Unbreakable
by Erudite-Dauntless Girl
Summary: The Capital can throw me into an arena, force me to kill, but they can't take the one I love. They can't break me. I am unbreakable.
1. The Morning

Chapter 1:

The Morning

"Briar, wake up. I'm getting cold, and we need some wood," says my grandmother. Normally, I would reply with a snappy and witty comment, but since today was the Reaping, and my grandmother could possibly lose another one of her grandchildren again, I decide to be sweet and kind.

"Yes, Grandmama," I say sweetly back. I sigh and push the heavy, antiquated quilt off of my body, shivering when the cold air whooshes against me. When I get to the tiny and cracked mirror in the corner of the room, I pull all of my long black hair into a tight high ponytail. For a second, I linger by the mirror, and see a flash of my younger sister in my own face. Poor little Violet. How I missed her so dearly. It was only one year ago when she got chosen to be in a fight to the death on live television. I've felt guilty for not volunteering for her ever since, and have despised the Career tributes for what they did to my sweet little Violet.

*Flashback*

_ As I lay curled up on our old couch with my grandmother and mother, I saw Violet suddenly get grabbed from behind from one of the Careers on the games that were being televised. They dragged her back to their camp by the golden Cornucopia that was in the middle of the dense rainforest where the games took place that year. She screamed and struggled as the male tribute from two tied each of her arms to a tree. I began sobbing, thinking that if I had volunteered for her, she wouldn't be in that situation. _

_When I looked back up at the screen, I saw a bloody and battered Violet, hanging limply from where she had been tied up to the trees. The disgusting Careers were laughing and giggling at the helpless and harmless girl before them. _

"_That kill was _way _too easy," said a tall blonde girl from District 1. _

"_It's not a kill just yet. Oh no, the fun has just begun!" said the brute who had grabbed Violet before._

"_I think this one's boring. She won't struggle or make noise. The other tributes won't know what we're doing if she doesn't make noise, and then we will be less menacing. Let's just leave her here to die, and find another one," said the short girl with short black hair. _

"_Yeah, great point, Natalia. Come on guys, let's go," said Natalia's district partner. They grabbed their packs and left the camp. Violet looked up slowly at where a hidden camera was, and whispered, "Briar, I love y-" Violet's last word was cut off by her suddenly ragged breathing, and then nothing. I heard a cannon boom, and threw myself at the television screen, screaming and sobbing. _

"_I'll kill you, Careers! I'll kill you all!" I screamed over and over again until my voice was hoarse, and my head was pounding. "She's….she's….gone," I whispered sadly. "Gone."_

*End Flashback*

Tears threaten to spill from my eyes, but I forbid them from falling. Nobody can know that I am broken on the inside. I must keep up my chill and non-caring attitude. I take a deep breath, put on my lumpy green sweater and sturdy leather boots, and walk outside to chop some wood for Grandmamma. When I step outside of the tiny one bedroom house that we call home, a wave of clean fresh air hits me, and I sigh in contentment.

I love to be in the woods. They're a home away from home. The woods are the only place where I can relax and be myself. I go over to the rock that I have hidden my axe under, and take my axe out. Once I have my axe, I begin swinging at trees, not caring if I hit anything at all.

"Stupid Snow! Dumb Capital… we're not your obedient pets…" I grumble under my breath.

"Ah! Briar! I knew you'd be out here," says a friendly voice that I recognized as my best friend Melissa's.

"Oh, uh, hi, Melissa. I thought you would be with Wade right now. After all, today is the Reaping," I say quietly. I smack my axe into a thin tree, once, twice, three times before it falls to the ground with a soft thud.

"Oh, yeah. About Wade… I ended it yesterday. He was too clingy and jealous," says Melissa. "I like Sebastian now, anyways. Hey, how's your grandmother? " Grandmama! I had completely forgotten about her and her wood!

"She's fine. I'll catch you later, Melissa. I have to go now!" I say quickly. I grab what little wood I did gather, and hide my axe under the mossy gray rock.

Once I'm back in our little house, I start up a supplying fire and answer my grandmother's worried questions. I assure her that I'm fine, and that nothing bad happened.

"Come on, now dear. Let's get you all cleaned up for the Reapings," says Grandmama. She drags me over to our tiny wash basin, and pours what little clean water we have over my pale body, and dark hair. Then, she takes me out of the wash tub, and dries me off on a tiny, grimy towel.

"Won't dragging an already dirty wash rag across my skin make me dirtier?" I ask snappily. She replies with a gap-toothed smile, then slowly makes her way to the wooden chest in the corner of the room. She pulls open the middle drawer, and then grabs something out of it.

"There's no need in acting like today is a good thing. Please, you don't need to make me look pretty," I argue. She hobbles back over to me, holding a long, dark green piece of fabric. Grandmama silently hands me the fabric. I realize that the fabric is actually a gorgeous dress. I hold it out in front of myself, so that I can get a better view. The dress goes down to just below my knees. The sleeves just cover up my slightly bulging biceps. Near the hem of the dress is a beautiful embroidered flower that Grandmama tells me is called a tiger-lily.

"Well, I guess I can wear this dress, but nothing else beauty enhancing," I say sarcastically.

"Oh, darn. I guess I'll have to put _all_ of my make up away," says Grandmama in an equally sarcastic tone. Even though she is old, she still jokes with me and matches my sarcasm. She then carefully picks up tendrils of my ebony hair and weaves them into a single French braid down my back. "Beautiful, dear," she says sadly. Suddenly, my mother begins to stir from the small bed she and Grandmama share.

"Good morning, darling," Grandmama says gently. "Soon we'll have to go to the square, so you should get dressed, okay?" Mother silently sits up and then gets dressed. "I've got a surprise for you two! I picked up some cream puffs from the bakery. I hope you enjoy them." Grandmama hobbles over to the table and picks up a brown paper sack. She takes out two round balls of dough, and hands one to each of us. When I sink my teeth into the puff, I am surprised to taste sweet cream.

"Mmm! Grandmama, these are delicious!" I say excitedly. "Mother, you should try one!" She silently shakes her head and motions for me to take it. "If you say so." She nods her head again and I devour the tasty treat.

"Come on, it's twelve o'clock; time for the Reapings to begin. Oh, and I almost forgot: May the odds be _ever_ in your favor!" Grandmama says.


	2. The Reaped

Chapter 2:

The Reaped

Once we get to the town square, our district escort Volumnia Fairbain is on the stage standing in front of the two immense glass balls filled with tiny white slips of paper, each with the name of an innocent teenager, anywhere between the ages of 12 and 18. She has a on a disgustingly orange wig, and an above-the-knee bright green mini dress. Her skin was slightly tinted a sickly yellow color, giving the appearance that she was ill. I'm ushered into the 16 year-old section by a Peacekeeper.

"Welcome, welcome! Welcome to the District Seven Reaping for the 16th annual Hunger Games! And now I give you your mayor, Clyve Saunders," says Volumnia. Then Mayor Clyve begins the speech we've heard him say for 16 years. When he is finally finished, Volumnia struts up to the microphone.

"Ladies first!" she screeches. She walks back toward the glass bowl on the left and pulls out a slip of paper. Once back at the microphone, Volumnia says, "May the odds be _ever_ in your favor!" She pulls the gold wax off of the folded slip, and opens it up. "Briar Wellwoood!" Suddenly, a cry is heard from the parents section, and I realize that the cry is from my mother. I stand there frozen for a moment before a few relieved girls push me forward. I walk up to the stage and squint against the sunlight.

"Ah, there you go! Now, time for the boys!" says Volumnia excitedly. She goes to the bowl on the right, and pulls out a slip. She opens up the paper, and announces the boy's name: "Wade Roxen!" Wade pushes his way toward the stage and stands up next to me.

"District Seven, I present you with this year's tributes: Briar Wellwood, and Wade Roxen! Now, shake hands you two," she says. Wade and I take a slow step towards each other, and shake each other's sweaty hands. We are then led into the Justice Building to have our last good-byes to family and friends. My grandmother and mother come in first. Grandmama immediately hugs me and whispers gentle words of reassurance into my ear.

"You are strong, like the plant you were named for, Briar. I know that we will have a victor this year," says Grandmama quietly after breaking from our embrace. I notice a single tear slide down her leathery tan face. And though I know that I will not return, I say, "I'll be seeing you soon."

Suddenly, for the first time in months, my mother speaks up: "Honey, you have to come back. It can't be Vi and you too. I know you can do it. Do it for Vi. Kill those Careers like you said that you would last year. Do whatever you can to come back." There are a few moments of silence before Grandmama speaks up.

"Bring back as much makeup as you can," she says with a smile, though I know that on the inside she is heartbroken.

"Of course," I reply, trying my hardest not to cry. But my efforts fail when the white uniformed Peacekeeper comes in to take away my family. I throw myself at him, but with no result. He slams the heavy oak door in my face, and leaves with the only people I love. Then, Marissa comes in.

"Listen, Bri. I'm sorry I didn't volunteer, but the new guy Sebastian asked me out, and now I have something, someone, to live for. The community center is awful. Any other given day I would rather be in the games, but now that I have him…" she trails off.

"I know. I understand. If only I could love," I say dramatically. Marissa and I have a joke about how I can never open up to strangers, and how I can never love. She sighs and then turns serious.

"Briar, you have to win. For me, for your grandmother, for your mother, and for sweet, innocent Violet. Do you hear me, you heartless barbarian?" she says, as she smiles at the last part. She looks up at me through her brilliant blue eyes.

"I will. I will," I say. The realization of what is going to happen to me sinks in now, and I realize also how many people will miss me if I died. How many people actually care about me.

"Miss, your time is up," says a different Peacekeeper than before.

"Bye, Briar. I _will_ see you again. Don't you dare think I won't. I will haunt you in your dreams, you hear me?" she says on her way out. Classic Marissa, I think to myself. Making a terrible situation into a joke. I smile, in spite of what faces me in the very near future.


	3. Off We Go

Chapter 3:

Off We Go

After a short car ride through District Seven, we find ourselves in the grimy train station. We are pushed out of the black car, and shoved onto the glistening silver train. When I step onto the train, I am in awe. The walls are a deep amethyst color, and all of the furniture is gold. By one of the stretched windows is a long table, covered in any kind of food imaginable.

"Wade! Look at all of this food! Oh, I could just eat all day!" I yell gleefully as I run to the buffet.

"Yes," says Volumnia. "Fill up. You need as much meat on your skinny little bones as you can get." Like I needed her permission! I fill up a tray, and gorge on all of the luxurious food I can until I feel like "my skinny little bones have meat".

"Ugh! Where's my room? I feel like I'm about to-" I barely manage to say before I spew chunks of rich food all over Volumnia's hideously red shoes. Those things look better with the puke, I think to myself.

"Yuck! These were brand new, and you just had to ruin them! All you poor people in the districts disgust me! Why did they give me District Seven? Why can't I get a rich one with the Careers, like 1 or 2 or even 3!" she shrieks.

"I don't…. I don't feel so good…" I stutter out before I throw up yet another course of the food I gorged on moments ago.

"EEEEEWWWW! Disgusting little pests!" she screams. This time the barf hits her hideous dress. An Avox takes my hand, and leads me into a luxurious room off of a hallway. He grabs a pad of paper and pen, and writes something down in swoopy handwriting.

In Capital in 1 hour

"Got it," I grunt. That Avox must have been from a richer district if he knew calligraphy, an ancient handwriting style. With that, he silently leaves my room. I plop down on the heavy comforter, and fall into a deep sleep.

"Briar! Wake up now!" says Wade's deep voice. "We're in the Capital!" I snap open wide awake because there's an unwanted visitor in my room.

"Who let you in here?" I snap at him.

"The door was wide open," he says calmly. He offers me his hand, but I ignore it. I am not very used to affection. People began to only sympathize for me because I lost my sister. So, I began to ignore their condolences and they ignored me. I became "The Quiet Sister of The Dead Girl".

"Who opened it?" I scream at him.

"Probably Volumnia," he replies coolly. He walks over to my bed and gently sits down next to me. "Listen, I know that there have been some awful things in your life, and that I can't even begin to understand how you feel, but I know what it's like to have your heart broken. Maybe I have experienced a different kind, but it's heart breaking nonetheless. You have to just keep on going on, even through the bad times, okay? Now I want you to get out of here, and show the Capital exactly how you feel, you hear me?" By the end of his speech, he's barely whispering into my ear. I look up at his beautiful emerald eyes. He's looking at me in the kindest and softest way. I can see why Melissa fell for him.

"Melissa was stupid," I say quietly. "I wonder why she…"

Wade smiles, then says, "Honestly, I have no idea why she did what she did or said what she said. All I know is that I am still hopelessly in love with her."

"Maybe I can change that," I say, and in one gigantic moment of courage, I lean forward and kiss him. Even though it's just a short peck, I feel that it said what I was feeling for him. He had found the tiny soft spot in my icy soul. I never thought that I would feel love like this again. Or any love, for that matter. I stand up, and saunter over to my closet that is stocked with clothing, and take out a pair of forest green caprees and a black tank top. When I turn back around, Wade is gone. Suddenly, my confident giddy feeling has disappeared, and I feel like a foolish little school-girl.

"Oh, no…" I whisper under my breath. I just kissed a boy who is still in love with his ex. On top of that, I think that I am experiencing feelings that I have never experienced. I pull my clothes on and leave the room that I will probably never see again.

When I walk into the main train car, I find everyone waiting for me. They are all sitting around the glamorous wooden table and nibbling on pastries. Wade looks up at me, and a blush creeps up his cheeks. I know that he will not return my feelings. I look away.

"Okay, I'm ready," I say.

"Finally! You District commoners have absolutely no sense of time! What were you two doing in that room? I sent him in there 30 minutes ago!" says Volumnia as if she forgot about our fight that had been less than three hours ago. They must have very short attention spans in the Capital. I snort, and Volumnia shoots me a look.

"Okay, let's GO!" she suddenly squeals. She opens the door, and leads us out onto the shiny Capital train platform. "Welcome to Panem's Capital!"


	4. In The Capital

Chapter 4:

In the Capital

Once we get to the building where we will train before being sent to our deaths, we find our rooms on the seventh floor. When I get into my room, I once again flop down onto the gigantic bed and relax. This time I don't go to sleep because there is too much going on in my mind. What was that little burst of courage that I had on the train? What do I feel for Wade? Why do I even think that I like Wade in that way? After all, he is my best friend's ex-boyfriend.

It's a small and light knock that brings me out of my thinking time. Wade's deep voice floats to my ears and I feel my heart flutter a little bit. What is this sudden feeling that I have for Wade? I have never felt this way about anyone, and I am slightly ashamed of myself for choosing such a great time to fall in love.

"Briar? Can I come in?" he asks again.

"Why?" I really don't feel like confronting him.

"Because we need to talk," he says gently. Again, my heart flutters at the sound of his pleasing voice.

I sigh, but allow him in. He slowly opens and closes the door behind him. He then walks over to me and sits down lightly beside me. For a few minutes neither of us say anything, we just sit and stare out of the gigantic windows facing the city. Then, it's Wade who speaks up.

"I'm sorry about how I reacted on the train today. Or how I didn't act, I should say," he says quietly. For some reason, I find myself smiling. "It's just that I'm still recovering from Melissa. She was my first love, and she destroyed my heart."

"It's Sebastian," I whisper. "She left you for him. Honestly, I have no idea why, what with his stringy yellow hair and his plain grey eyes. You're much more… I don't know. Mysterious is the word, I guess. I don't think anyone really knows you." I pause for a moment before thoughtfully saying, "I would like to." When I look over to him, I see a grin creeping up over his face.

"I think I would like to know you too. No one knows much about you either," he says. "And thanks, I think that I'm over her now. If she left me for him, that means that I can get anyone that I want." He gets up to leave, and just as he's about to shut the door behind himself, he looks at me and whispers, "Like you." Then, he shuts the door and leaves me to my thoughts.

Does that mean that he likes me back? Or, I begin to think in horror, does that mean that he knows how I feel about him? Wait, I tell myself, why am I worried about this when I should really be worried about my inevitable death in four days? I should really be worried about alliances, the Cornucopia, or how I'm going to kill the Careers. I smile and walk into the high-tech bathroom to try to figure out the crazy looking shower.

Once I get out of the shower, and once I have dried off and put on clothes, Volumnia comes into my room and tells me that we have the Chariot ride through the Capital tonight. She then leads me to a room down the hall. She tells me that my stylist and his assistants are going to "pretty me up". She opens the door and shoves me in. When I step into the room, I am hit with an amazingly sweet smell. I find three colorful people standing in front of me with gleeful eyes, like a child in a toy shop.

"We finally got a pretty one!" one of the women squealed in her nasally Capital accented voice.

"Luna, now, now, don't scare the girl!" the other women says in a normal sounding voice. "Darling, now tell me, what's your name?"

"Briar. Briar Wellwood," I say back.

"Fauna, she has an amazing name and body! We shouldn't let Dill do all of the work!" Luna whines.

"Who's Dill? And who are you?" I gesture with my chin to the silent man in the back of the room.

"Oh, him. That's Magnus. He's a bit moody, if you ask me," says Luna in a gossipy voice. "And Dill is your stylist. Unfortunately, we're only his assistants."

"For a clique head, Luna, you're a terrible gossiper," says Magnus with a deep voice. He floats over to the blue Fauna, and slips his arm around her shoulders, causing a deep red blush to cover Luna's pale face.

"Anyways, let's get going," says the newly recovered Luna. Then, she leads me to a table in the center of the room, and lays me down gently. Then, the stylists begin their own method of torture. They wax my legs, arms, and arm pits. They pluck and tweeze my eye brows. They even inject something into my lips that will "make them fuller".

"So, that partner of yours…he's pretty cute, am I right?" asks Luna.

I blush slightly, but quickly brush her off. "No. I don't care. Yes, wait…" Okay, I guess that I didn't really brush her off.

"Oh, does Briar have a little crush? Do I hear a crush?" Luna asks. "Tell me EVERYTHING."

"No. I don't have a crush on him! I don't like Wade!" I say, a little too defensively.

"Okay, I think you're ready for Dill now," says Fauna. She then leads me into another room off of that room, and says, "He can be a bit… brash at times. Just accept what he says and don't let him get to you, okay?" I'm confused, but I nod anyway. She quickly ducks out and leaves me alone, naked in a foreign room, in front of a complete stranger. A man, no older than 25, comes into the room and begins to look me up and down.

"They didn't give me much to work with this year, did they?" he arrogantly says.

Though Fauna told me not to snap back, I do. "Look who's talking?"

"Oh, do we have a fiery little tribute this year? I might be able to work with that… But first, we must scrape some of that nasty skin off," he says with a grin.

"I'm sorry, but my skin is near flawless! They should not have hired a _blind_ man to dress people. Especially when those people are going to be on live television before all of Panem!" I scream at him ferociously. I had been hoping to shut him up, so that he could start the torture, so that we could end faster. But, he only grinned.

"Okay, so we have a feisty tribute, eh? I can DEFINITELY work with that! Hmm….what kind of tree do you prefer? Pine, birch, or… I don't know. Oh, how about willow? With that slender body, you'll make a perfect willow!" says Dill. I moan. I had completely forgotten that the tributes from seven had to dress up as trees every year. It was funny, because when I was younger, I always laughed at the ridiculous tree costumes every year. "Now, let's get to that skin scrubbing, shall we?" he, and I kid you not, cackled.

A half hour later, I felt like I had been skinned. I had gone through a cycle of scrubbing, then bathing in a concoction of something, then back to scrubbing, then back into another type of concoction.

"I feel like a skinned animal," I whine.

"Girl, you should feel invigorated. You got yourself some sensitive skin if _that_ hurts. Now, let's get you fitted and ready," he says. He walks to me, and begins measuring different parts of my body. Then, he grabs some fabric and materials and comes back to me. He begins to drape fabric across my body at different angles. When he's finished pinning and sewing, I myself am in awe of his work.

Fitted snugly on my slender body is a dark brown mini dress that is sleeveless. Draped around the bottom dress are long pieces of green silk that are braided so perfectly, that they all resemble the thin branches of the willow tree. Wrapped around my arms are also braided silk branches, and weaved into my hair are strands of gold. I find myself tugging at the bottom of the dress, which is incredibly short; it doesn't even make it down to my knees.

"Stop! I made it that short so that we could show off those gorgeous legs, not hide them!" Dill says as he stares at me like I am his master piece of art. What he said about my legs makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, but I shake it off immediately. "Okay, let's go see Basil, and how she's doing with Wade," he says excitedly. He leads me out of the room and down the hall, where we meet up with Wade and his stylist, Basil I think her name was. He looks awkward in his tree costume. He looks at me, and a smile spreads across his face.

"Wow. You look stunning, Briar. You really are beautiful," he says as if he's in awe.

"I'm not…. I don't… I don't look that great," I stammer out. Whenever I'm nervous, I end up stuttering. So, naturally, when he tells me that I'm beautiful, I'm a teensy bit nervous. And excited. And giddy.

"Come on!" says Volumnia, who has suddenly appeared. "The Chariot rides begin in a half hour, and we need to get all set up and ready!" she drags us out of the door, to the elevator, and down to the bottom level of the center for tributes. "And, oh my, we forgot to watch the recap of the Reapings! Oh no…This is really not good!" I could honestly care less, I am even glad we didn't watch it yet; I don't want to watch the people who are most likely going to kill me.

Volumnia really seemed upset over this tiny thing, so Wade steps in: "Volumnia, it's fine. We can just watch it later, after the Chariot ride, okay?" His deep voice seems to soothe her, because she stopped moaning, and gave a nod of her curl-laden hair. With a small smile, she says, "Let's go wow them!"


	5. The Chariots

Chapter 5:

The Chariots

After the short ride through the Capital, we find ourselves in a gigantic area with a huge paved strip going through the middle. In the "backstage" area, Wade and I get a good look at our opponents. The tributes from 1, 2, and 4 are mingling in the back, already forming their Career pack. I can tell where they are from by looking at their costumes: The District One tribute are wearing bright and sparkly costumes, but they do not match; the District Two tributes are wearing marbled looking outfits that sparkle like stone, fitting that district's specialty which is masonry; and the District Four tributes are wearing green outfits that resemble sea weed with shells and drift-wood. There's only a few other tributes that stick out to me. A girl from District Three, who has large horn-rimmed glasses and short French-braided hair. Another girl from District Five stands out to me because she has long curly blonde hair and beautiful eyes. One of them is blue, and the other is green. There's something about her that strikes me. I think it's her eyes, but I get this mysterious aura from her. There's also a boy from 11 that is gigantic, and this is very unusual, because in District 11 they are very malnourished every time we see them for the games. His partner looks like she is very afraid of him.

"See anybody we should join up with?" Wade whispers into my ear.

"Who said we were going to be teaming up?" I retort.

"Well, I think I just did," he replies casually.

"Do you think that I need you, Wade? Because if you do, then you are sadly mistaken," I snap back at him.

"I don't think you need me. I need you. I need an ally, and I want to join somebody that I… that I… somebody that I…" he drifts off.

"Somebody that you…?" I question. I know that he's going to say "somebody that I know" but I don't understand why he didn't just say it the first time.

"Somebody that I like," he says slowly as a blush covers his well-toned face. Now I notice what a nice jaw-line he has, and how the angles of his face make him attractive. Then I realize what he's just said to me. Wade Roxen likes me, the sarcastic, witty girl that no one likes. But before I remember the mental pact I made with myself about not worrying about this, I blurt out, "I like you too." He smiles warmly, then says, "Good. I think it's about to begin. Let's go." He offers me his hand, and I take it because I am so high on happiness, and the fact that I guess we are now "together".

"Wade?" I ask.

"Yes?" he replies softly.

"Are we 'together' now?"

"Well, if we both have feelings for each other, we shouldn't just ignore them, right?"

"I guess you're right, but my question still isn't answered."

"I, I guess we are, Briar. I have to admit, even while I was with Melissa, I felt more connected to you. It's kind of funny how fate gets everything to work out, isn't it? I mean, to get us together, we had to have both been reaped, otherwise, you and I wouldn't be talking right now," he says thoughtfully. I think about it for a second, and realize he's right. What a cruel twist of fate.

"Bitter-sweet," I conclude. He smiles and leads me forward to the woman that is directing us to our chariots. We are lead to a chariot in the middle of the line of chariots (the seventh one). It is about five feet wide and five feet long, and is made of a black shiny wood. We step in as the doors by District One's chariot open, revealing a roaring crowd of Capital citizens.

"Should we show them that we're together?" Wade asks me. I think it through for a few seconds, then decide.

"I think we should act friendly, but not romantic. Maybe romantic in the arena, but not yet. How about we go for slowly falling in love, as a show for them, though we already like each other?" I say back to him. "Don't even let Volumnia know."

"Okay, here we go," he says. The chariot begins to pull forward, and I decide to show the Capital the real me. They have angered me, so I can anger them by being vile and disrespectful. When we are in the area where the Capitalites sit, it's so loud that I can barely think. But I follow through with my plan. I spit and hiss, yelling obscene things as we pass them. Apparently, this only makes them more excited about me. Since I have already started this "character" (though this is how I really am), I must continue with it, and not just give up on it.

After a few minutes of spitting and hissing, we arrive in the circular area at the end of the strip we went down in the chariots. On a gigantic platform, sits the President of Panem, Julius Anskine Snow. He stands up, and silently puts his hand up. Almost immediately the crowd becomes silent. He steps forward, his slicked back black hair glistening like a raven's feathers.

"Citizens of Panem, I gather you all here today to celebrate the 16th annual Hunger Games!" he stops so that the crowd can cheer. After 10 seconds of applause, it stops, and Snow continues. "As you all know the Hunger Games are a reminder of…." He keeps going, but I tune out because I've heard this speech so many times before. I'm sure every Capitalite knows it by heart, because I almost do. I turn to look at Wade to see if he's spacing out, or if he's paying attention, but I get lost in his beauty. My eyes trace all of his features as they have once before. Suddenly, he turns to look at me, and I feel my cheeks prickle with a blush, feel the heat spreading throughout my face. He smiles gently and chuckles.

"Spacing out too, I see?" he says with a smirk.

"Maybe. I practically know it by heart by now," I reply.

"Ah, so you pay attention at the Reapings, do you? How else would you know it?" he retorts.

"Well… I …. You see… Maybe. I did at least. But then Violet got reaped and…" I trail off. He looks at me with understanding eyes, rather than sympathetic ones.

"I would hug you now, but because of our relationship in public thing, I can't," he says quietly. I don't reply, but I think that it's a comfortable silence that we're in, not one to be broken.

After a minute or so, the anthem of the country begins to play, and I'm snapped back into reality. Snow dismisses us, and the chariots slowly turn around. Once again, the crowd is going crazy, especially for the Careers, who are blowing kisses and waving. When we pass by, they go wild as they did before. Though Dill is a total jerk, he made me look appealing, and that might just save my life in the future.

We arrive in the Training Center again, and go up to the seventh floor. When I get into my room, I tear off the tight costume, and throw on some black silk pajamas. The feeling of the fabric on my skin reminds me of the dress that I wore at the Reapings. And though that was only this morning, it seems as if it were a million years ago. I yearn to see Grandmama's tan face, to hear her smooth voice. I even miss my mother's face, with the sorrowful worry lines aging her youthful face.

After I have scrubbed what seems like pounds of makeup off of my face, Volumnia comes in reminds me that we must watch the recap of the Reapings.

"Come on, there's alarge television set in the parlor of my room. And, must I add, you look darling in those beautiful pajamas. Ebony and ivory. I love it!" she says as she leads me to her room down the hall. Once we get into the room, we find Wade sitting on a huge purple plush sofa. He looks behind his shoulder and smiles when he sees me. I smile back shyly, then motion with my head at Volumnia, reminding him of our secret. He nods his head as if remembers now. I come over and sit down on one of the many golden chairs arranged in front of the huge television.

"Isn't this television lovely?" Volumnia says as if noticing our looks of bewilderment at it. "It's the newest plasma television, and the screen is made up of hundreds of tiny crystals." Wade and I both snort, because the screen was obviously way too large to be made up of only hundreds of crystals. "What?" she snaps at us.

"Nothing," we both say indifferently.

"Okay," she says cheerily, as if she believes us, which once again leads me to believe that the Capitalites have _very_ short attention spans. She switches on the television, and the National Anthem of Panem blares on. The national seal of the Capital flashes on the screen, and then we begin watching the Reapings of the other districts.

From District 1 are the attractive. The girl, Silver, has wide shoulders, and long straight blonde hair. The boy, Titus, is massive. His biceps are gigantic, and he has a look of bloodlust. The tributes from two are scary. The girl Killani has very short, dark spiked hair. She is very dainty, and is wearing a malicious grin. The boy Crucis is very, very tall. He has long black hair, and is looking straight forward, showing no emotion. District 3's Katri and Whytt are both small with dark hair and dark skin. Katri is the girl that I saw with the glasses at the Chariots ceremony.

"How about them? They look like they might be useful," I say to Wade.

"Mhmm. It'd be great to start an alliance this early on," Wade says back.

The tributes from four look like your average Careers: tall, strong, and fierce. They're names are Flux and Ashby. Then, the tributes from District 5 come on. I recognize the beautiful girl with the mysterious eyes. The camera shows somebody that looks like he could be her twin screaming. He's saying that somebody has to volunteer, anybody. But nobody volunteers, and sobs rack his entire body. I know exactly how he feels, sending someone who is dear to you away to their certain death. The tributes from 6 are normal looking, not really noticeable. Then it shows Wade and me. I look silently angry, but not very obviously angry. I'm sure I didn't have an impression on the other tributes who watched. The tributes from District 8 are plain as well. The rest of the tributes make no impression on me, but the boy from 11 scares me, with his size.

"Well, there's your competition. Now, you need to get in bed because tomorrow you begin your training," Volumnia says happily as she claps her hands together. Wade and I agree and shuffle to our rooms. He waits about 20 minutes to come into my room, just in case Volumnia randomly appears. I don't know why I want him with me, but I guess it's just because the reality of what is going to happen in three days has now hit me, and I need somebody with me.

"Can I play with your hair?" Wade asks softly. I nod my head silently. He walks over to my bed and sits behind me.

"Why? Why do you want to play with my hair?" I ask quietly.

"I have two little sisters, and they are always teaching me how to braid," he says. I tilt my head back and laugh so hard that it's silent. "Oh, come on now, it's not that bad, is it?"

"Wade, I don't even who how to braid hair!" I exclaim.

"I can teach you if you like," he offers. I agree, and we spend two hours braiding and unbraiding my hair.

When we're done, I ask him a question that's been on my mind since the Chariots. "Wade, why me? I mean, Anne and Symonne are way prettier and nicer than me. Even Melissa is prettier than me."

He smiles, then says, "Briar, don't ever think that again. You're beautiful. Your hair is the perfect ebony color, and your skin is ivory. Have you ever heard of an ancient tale called 'Snow White and Rose Red'?" I shake my head no. "Oh, well I'll have to tell it to you later. Anyway, you remind me of Snow White, and Violet reminded me of Rose Red. They were both beautiful. Briar, I also like you because none of those other girls can come close to your skills in the woods. Climbing and chopping and what-not. You're perfect." I smile, and feel my eyes begin to droop shut. What a perfect ending to a terrible day (ironic, huh?).


	6. Day One of Training

Chapter 6:

Training

I awake when I feel the warm sunlight on my cheek. I feel Wade's muscled arm hanging over me protectively. He must have fallen asleep soon after I did. I turn to face him. His face looks so calm and peaceful. I could stay here forever, in the warm sunlight, and in the arms of someone who loves me. He must feel my eyes on him, because suddenly his long eyelashes are fluttering open. When he sees me, he smiles and squeezes my arm once.

"Dang it!" I say. "Wade, we have to get up! We start training today."

"But, I like this," he says with his eyes closed slightly.

"Come on, get up," I say as I try to pull him up with all my might. "I can't move you, so you have to actually _move_. Please Wade!" He reluctantly un-wraps his arms from around me with a sigh, and gets up.

"I'll see you soon," he says, and leaves to his room. I put on the provided training outfit, and put my kinked hair into a high ponytail, leaving my bangs out. I walk into the dining room on the seventh floor and meet an angered Volumnia, and a composed Wade.

"What were you thinking, sleeping in this late!" she screams. "Training starts in five minutes, and you two still have to eat, not to mention that you have to be there 15 minutes early to hear the trainer give her speech. I suppose since you two have no mentor, you have no discipline." This is true. In all of the 15 previous Hunger Games, not one of the victors has been from District 7. "Now you two get to starve, and get to be scolded for what you've done. Now, come on! We're going to be even later!"

"But you could have woken us up," I say, though I am glad she didn't; she can't know about Wade and me.

"Well, I am not one to invade one's privacy! I thought you knew to wake up early!" she yells back.

Three minutes later, we find ourselves underground, in the enormous training center. Wade and I decide to split up and explore different things. I go to the plants and berries section first, because I would like to avoid the Careers as much as possible. At this station, I find the girls from 3 and 5, Katri and Sagitarria. We're the only ones at this station.

"Briar, is it?" Katri asks me. I nod my head. "Would you like to be in alliance with Sagitarria and me?" She looks around to see if anyone is listening. "When Whytt and I watched the recap, we noticed you and Wade would make great allies. Sagitarria and Beck noticed that as well. So, what do you say? You in?"

"Sure. You said you would let Wade in too, right?" I ask hurriedly. I will not go into an alliance without Wade.

"Of course. Besides, he's gorgeous," says Katri with a giggle, which makes me feel very protective over him. I'm sure my eyes turned hard, because she immediately backs off. "I'm sorry. I mean, if you two are together, I don't think…" she trails off nervously. Her cheeks are rosy red as she pushes her glasses up her nose.

"Okay, shush, Katri! Wade and I are a secret; nobody knows about us, but you two now. We're going to keep it a secret until the arena. You can keep your mouth shut right, Sagitarria?" I ask harshly.

"Of course. Be cautious, boys can ruin you," she says mysteriously.

"Why do you say that?" I ask quietly.

"Are you girls paying any attention?" asks the station director.

Katri says, "Of course. You have to pay attention to the way the veins in the leaves spread, because it determines if it contains poisons."

"Oh, so you have paid attention. Good," the director says coldly, and then continues on with her training.

"Just be careful," Sagitarria says.

"Was it Beck?" I ask quietly.

"You're good," she replies.

"My friend Melissa taught me how to read body language. You were showing denial and aggression," I say casually.

"Oh. Yeah, Beck cheated on me. What perfect coincidence, being put into an arena to murder each other. Women can do some crazy things while heartbroken and angry," she says with a grin. I laugh.

"What's it like to be in love?" Katri asks.

"It's like the sweetest cream, the most harmonious music, the most perfect thing ever. It makes you feel like the world has stopped, that it's just you and him. It's amazing," Sagitarria says, looking off into the distance at some invisible point.

"Okay, that's it!" the director screams at us. "Go away!" Katri can't save us now.

"I don't know about you, but I learned nothing there," I say. "But, now I have something tell Wade."

"I learned a lot. I'll just tell it to you when we need it," Katri says. "Where to next?"

"Um… How about camouflage? Depending on the arena it could be useful," Sagitarria says.

"Okay, sounds good," I say. We practice camouflaging ourselves into different kinds of backgrounds for about 4o minutes.

"I say we practice weapons. What are you two good at?" Sagitarria asks. "I'm good with knives."

"Well, since I am from seven, I am awesome with an axe. I could probably hit a minute target with my eyes closed," I joke. "I am also pretty good at climbing trees too."

"Good. Katri?" Sagitarria asks.

"Um… Anything with electricity. Bombs too," Katri says. "I'm pretty useless, I guess."

"Katri, it just depends on the arena. Briar could be useless in a frozen-tundra," Sagitarria says, trying to cheer Katri up.

"Yeah," I add.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for lunch!" a gigantic lady in grey yells. Everyone rushes over to where she is directing us to go to eat.

Once we get into the cafeteria, I immediately find Wade and bring him to where Katri, Whytt, Sagitarria, and Beck are sitting.

"Wade, this is Sagitarria, Beck, Katri, and Whytt. I think they would make great allies. And I know this a ton of information to be taking in right now, but just bear with me, and I'll talk to you in my room after wards, okay?" I say to him in a rush.

"Okay, Briar. Relax. I think we can trust them. Hey guys, as you probably know, my name is Wade," he says. Everyone acknowledges him by nodding or waving.

"So, since we're in an alliance, I think we should all get to know each other. How about we start with… siblings," Whytt says as he pushes his wire glasses up his nose. Now that I think of it, Whytt and Katri look a lot alike. They both have the same thick dark hair and olive skin, with small almond shaped eyes. But it's kind of funny, because Whytt's hair is longer than Katri's. I look over, and notice Sagitarria and Beck look a lot alike too. Both of them have wavy blonde hair, and wide innocent looking eyes.

"How about we start with Katri?" Whytt asks. He motions elegantly to Katri.

"Well, let's see. I have two younger sisters, Alanda and Crimson. They're the cutest; two year-old twins. Oh, and I also have an older brother named Jasper. Boy, do I miss them," Katri says.

"Okay, I'm up now. I have a younger brother named Gryphon. That's all," Whytt says cheerfully. "He's about nine, and we play -played- together all of the time. I miss my family. Okay, how about Sagitarria next."

"I have a twin brother named Majorus. He's more of the strong and silent type. Sometimes, he'll flash a grin when he's really happy, but that's rare, considering that he never shows emotions. I didn't know he cared for me so much. At the Reapings, he wept! I love him so, so much," Sagitarria says.

"Just as much as I love you," purrs Beck. "Baby, I can't stop thinkin' about you."

"If you really loved me Beck, you wouldn't have been making out with some chick I bet you don't even know the name of. You're such a player. I can't believe I ever fell for you!" Sagitarria yells at him.

"But I – I – and you…" Beck says nervously, the cool-guy act completely gone.

"What a spineless jerk! You can't even defend yourself."

"Now you listen here! I've tried playing nice with you, but it hasn't worked! I don't know what happened back there. I guess she just cornered me."

"THEN WHY DID YOU KISS HER BACK?" Sagitarria screams furiously. The whole lunch room falls silent, everyone staring at Sagitarria.

"What are you looking at?" she yells to no one in particular.

"You, sexy lady," an ugly looking boy from eight says back to her. Apparently, that did it, because Sagitarria stormed up to him, and slapped him right across the face. In front of all of the Peacekeepers and trainers. Man, she must have a mean slap, because the sound of hand-to-face echoed around the room. On her way back to our table, I heard her mutter under her breath, "I will kill that boy first."

"Hey guys, it's Beck's turn," she says nonchalantly after arriving back at our table. But everyone just sat there gawking at her.

"Sagitarria, how did you work up _the nerve_ to do that?" Katri asks. "You're not supposed to harm a player before the games begin."

"Well, it looks like I just did, and you can't undo what's been done, now can you?" she snaps at Katri.

"I like 'em feisty!" the boy from eight yells out.

"Uch, what a disgusting pig!" Sagitarria says sharply. "Nobody understands; I don't need a man in my life, except for Majorus. You just cannot trust them."

"I like 'em feisty too. And, I think you do need a man," says Beck.

"Do you want a slap too? Just ask that stupid boy how much it hurt. I've got a mean slap."

"Well, no, but if getting slapped means getting attention from you, baby, I'll take it."

"Boys are disgusting pigs, who think they know everything. I can't believe you Beck. I thought you had the _decency _to ignore me, but I guess boys are just too stupid."

"Hey, not all boys are horrible. I think I'm halfway decent at least, right Briar?" Wade asks calmly.

"Of course, Wade. You're amazing," I say, smiling.

"Sagitarria, I know exactly what's it like to be heart-broken, but it doesn't give you the right to generalize so broadly," says Wade softly.

As if in a trance from Wade's words, Sagitarria says in a calm tone, "Oh, okay Wade. I'm sorry." And once again, I feel defensive over Wade. The effect he has on her makes me feel protective, but I know that he likes me, and only me. For now…. Oh, no. Sagitarria's negativity is getting to me. So is her paranoia.

"Okay. Wait, Wade, you are NOT stealing my woman, are you?" Beck asks skeptically. "Huh?"

"No. I happen to like another girl, actually," Wade says calmly. Katri, who is sitting to my right, nudges me and winks.

"Oh. It's my turn, now isn't it? I have no siblings and I live in a Community Home," says Beck quietly.

"Oh," Whytt says somberly. But then he perks up and asks, "How about your family, Briar?"

"Um… Well… My baby sister Violet… she's – she's- she's not alive anymore. She was in the Hunger Games last year. Killed by the stupid Careers. I've sworn vengeance on her. So don't be freaked if I kill someone." I say the last part half jokingly. Katri strokes my arm in sympathy. A small part of me wants to kill them, but another part knows the regret I will feel up until I die.

"Oh, okay Briar. Wade, you?" Whytt says.

"I have one older brother named Blake," he says.

"LISTEN UP! LUNCH IS NOW FINISHED! NOW WE WILL RETURN TO TRAINING!" the gigantic lady from before yelled. Everybody got up and left, expecting the Avoxes to clean up after them. In District Seven we all clean up after ourselves, because we are self-reliant. So, naturally, I stay to help clean up because it's been drilled into me to clean up. But when I come up to help the Avox girl, she looks at me worriedly and shoos me away. I don't want to burden her, or even possibly endanger her for being with a commoner, so I leave.

When I finally catch up to Sagitarria and Katri, who have split from Beck, Wade, and Whytt, I am bombarded with questions:

"Why were you over there?"

"What were you doing?"

"Why were you trying to help an Avox?"

"I was trying to help her, because that's what I do. If you have a problem with that, let me know," I snap at them.

"I was just wondering," Sagitarria mutters under her breath. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice what looks to be a fight. I turn to get a better look and see that it's Careers who are fighting with each other.

"Guys! Look over there!" I say quietly, but just loud enough so that I know that they can hear me.

"Are those – are those Careers fighting? Ha-" Sagitarria is in mid-laugh, but is cut off by an excited Katri.

"Oh my gods, guys! I have an idea! See how easily those Careers will jump into a fight, even with themselves? Why don't we tear them apart? Get inside of the group, only to turn them all on each other? This will be GREAT!" Katri says excitedly. A smile is spread across Sagitarria's beautiful face, and I can feel one creeping up on me as well. "I think we should send-" Katri is cut off by a Career whose name I think is Killani. Her and her followers Ashby and Silver come up behind her. Killani shoves Katri and me to the side, going straight for Sagitarria.

"I need you to follow me. _Now!" _Killani screams at Sagitarria. Killani drags Sagitarria over to the knife station, with her little posse following her.

"Gods, I hope they didn't hear me," Katri says nervously.

"I doubt it. They can't shove any information into their pea-size brains." I snort. "This is perfect for your plan, Katri. They're probably going to invite her into their group, she'll 'accept' and then she'll tear them apart. It's a bulletproof plan!"

"Oh, I didn't think about it that way! Then, this is good! I hope she accepts. Oh, I see her coming over here," Katri says. When she arrives at us, she looks over her shoulder at the staring Careers.

"Okay, I am supposed to come over here and tell you that I'm ditching you, yadda yadda yadda. The important thing is that they let me in. Quick, Briar, act disappointed," Sagitarria hurriedly whispers.

"What? Sagitarria? Why? Please, don't leave us! Please, please!" I yell so that they can hear me. I can hear some of the Career girls snickering behind me, and am now positive we have sealed the deal with Careers because now Saitarria seems desirable, and I seem weak and nervous, which I will be the opposite of in the arena.

Sagitarria throws her head back, and lets out a loud and cruel laugh, which I know is fake. She struts over to the Careers, not once looking back at us. I notice a worried looking Wade coming over to Katri and me.

"Why is she going with them?" he asks worriedly.

"It's all part of our plan. We're going to infiltrate the Career pack by turning them in on each other," I reply. He smiles gladly, and I feel a pang of jealousy that he's showing so much happiness over her.

"Oh, okay. Good. Just making sure our alliance isn't crumbling around us," he says.

"Nope, it's not. Go tell the rest of the boys about the plan, okay?" I say. But, what he does instead of that completely surprises me. He looks me in the eyes and leans down and kisses me. There, in front of everybody. On the lips. I freeze up at first, but then kiss back lightly. He pulls back, and whispers in my ear, "Don't worry. I feel nothing for Sagitarria. Briar, I love you." Then he sauntered off proudly, leaving me standing there with a gawking look on my face. Almost the entire room was silent and staring at me.

"What? I didn't do anything! Go stare at Wade, he's the one that kissed me!" I yell at our little audience. They say nothing, and then go back to what they were doing before.

Katri and I continue on at the same station, tying and untying knots, until we are approached by a tall wispy girl. I recognize her olive skin and shiny brown hair. She is the girl from District Eleven. She is Winnow Ballantyn. Her and her family were shown on live television because they stole fruit from the grove they were working in. They were all shown being whipped. I'd heard rumors that the youngest in the family had died from blood loss. Poor soul.

"Hey girls, can I join you?" she says in a quiet voice. I can feel a mysterious yet kind vibe from her. Her deep blue eyes have sadness in them. She certainly did not look like Sagitarria, with a gorgeous body and curly hair, but Winnow has a graceful beauty that can't be described.

"Of course! Let me just say that I totally admire you for how brave you were when…when… when you know what happened," Katri says quickly.

Winnow's eyes show a deep sadness, but she still replies. "Thank you. So, don't you have an alliance going on? "

"Observant," I say sarcastically. It's pretty obvious that there is an alliance between us. We sat together in lunch and trained together.

"I-" Winnow stops. She opens her mouth as if she were about to say something, but quickly closes it. She sighs hesitantly and says in a quiet and kind tone, "Do you mind if I joined you all? I'm really fast at climbing up trees, and can handle a knife pretty well."

"Let's see those muscles," I say.

She flashes a minute smirk, and lifts up the sleeve of her shirt, revealing her large biceps. I guess that's what you get for climbing up trees all your life.

"Whoa, there! Those are some crazy muscles, girl!" I say excitedly to her.

She smiles shyly, and says, "Thanks. I can show you what I'm good at if you want to see. Knives?"

"Yea. That would be good, because we need to see if you're good enough to join us," I say. She leads us over to the knife station, and begins throwing the glinting silver knives at human shaped targets in the end of the room. Her knife hits the heart on the target.

"Good job," says the girl from District Six, Librae as if Winnow were a toddler who didn't understand her. If I were Winnow, I would have replied with a snappy and witty comment, but I guess since she's so used to not speaking what's on her mind, she doesn't stand up for herself. Librae grabs a knife out of Winnow's hand and hurls it half-heartedly at the farthest target from us. The knife flies in a huge arc, then flies straight to the ground, missing the target by about 5 feet.

"Great job throwing my aim off, Eleven!" Librae screams at Katri. She storms over and pushes Katri, full-force.

"Hey, knock it off girls," says the trainer. Librae stops, but not before shooting Winnow a disgusting look. I smirk, because she gave me something so easy to make fun of.

"Do you think her face is naturally like that?" I whisper loudly to Katri and Winnow.

"You suck at whispering!" Librae yells at me.

"Do I look like I care? That's right, I don't!" I yell right back at her. She says nothing, and continues on throwing (and failing with) her knives. These days of training will be long if we have to deal with girls like her and the Career girls.

After four more hours of various types of training, the trainers allow us to go back to our bedrooms. Wade and I meet up in the hallway joining our rooms. He has a huge smile on when he sees me. He looks around first, then embraces me strongly.

"Wade, what was that for?" I say to him.

"I missed you," he says simply. He steps back and stares at me all over.

"Okay so we have liked each other for less than two days, and already you have: kissed me, hugged me, and told me you loved me. I don't know if I'm mistaken, but I think that's pretty sappy, don't you think?" I say with an attitude.

"Well, speak for yourself on the two day thing. I know I have told you this before, but liked you more than I did Melissa, I was just afraid to talk to you, or to end it with Melissa," Wade says back. "I think affection is a great way of showing emotion." He reaches for me with a bashful smile, but I quickly twirl away. Of course, being the clumsy person I am, I slam into a wall, so my attempt to outsmart Wade quickly backfires. He grabs me and puts me up on his shoulder. I had no idea he was this strong.

"Help! Help!" I scream as I pound my fists into his back. "What kind of emotion is this?"

"Hmmm… Now that I think of it, I have no idea."

"Which is _exactly_ why you should put me down." He sighs, but lets go of me. I wriggle out of his grip quickly and then run down in the direction of the room where you can order food.

"I get the first meal!" I yell as I sprint down the hallway to the eating room.

"No!" he yells after me. I grin, because I know I can outrun him. I reach the door and yank it open. I scramble over to the table with the touch-screen menu. Then I scroll down and find exactly what I want. I lick my lips in anticipation of the steaming meal.

"Briar, you have to share with me!" Wade says from behind me.

"In your dreams, Big Boy!" I yell at him. He chuckles deeply. I hear the cheery ding of the meal revealer, and run over to the silver platter. I take off the lid, and smell the tangy sweet smell of cherries.

"Aw, no fair! You have to share that with me Briar, come on! You can't eat that entire cherry pie by yourself!" Wade says with a puppy dog look on his handsome face. I never do well with the puppy-dog face. Especially when Violet did it. I try to ignore his wide, innocent eyes, but I just can't.

"Fine. One bite. That's all you get of it, though."

"Yes! Thank you Briar!" He runs over to the pie, and takes a small spoonful of it. He eats it politely. I narrow my eyes at him. It was too politely. He's planning something, I know it. And as if he knew what I was thinking, he suddenly made his move. He grabs the pie and runs away to his room, laughing as he does it. I begin to chase after him, but then realize it's useless. There's a much simpler solution: just get a new pie. I laugh out loud because of the simplicity of it that I didn't see. I walk back over to the touch-screen menu and order another cherry pie. In seconds the bell dings and I have another pie. And this one has a spoonful more than Wade's does.

I grab a spoon and begin to shovel spoonfuls of it into my mouth. The pie here doesn't taste as good as Theta's from home, but is still really good. I savor the tangy cherries and the sugar-coated and crunchy crust.

About two minutes later, I am finished with the entire pie, and feel absolutely dreadful. Volumnia walks in and says, "You are so bloated! What did you do to yourself sweetheart?" She walks over to me, her impossibly high heels clacking on the tiled floor. She stiffly sits down next to me.

"Ugh…. Too much pie," I moan.

"Oh, honey. Here in the Capital, there are so many great foods. But you shouldn't eat anything, because you'll just get fat," Volumnia says matter-of-factly.

"But, if I am going to die anyway, why not plump myself up, so that I have more of a chance of living. I don't want to waste away right away," I spit back at her. Apparently, she has no response to that, because she stands up, and walks away. I wait a few minutes, just quietly sit there. Then I get up to my room and lay down, exhausted from today's work. I look over at the bedside table clock. It reads 6:45. Oh, who cares if I go to sleep now. Screw it.


	7. The Revalation

Chapter 7:

The Revelation

"Briar?" Wade said quietly. I opened my eyes and saw him sitting over me, smiling. "You are so beautiful when you sleep. So peaceful."

"Hi," I mutter. "What time is it?"

"It's eleven o'clock. Dinner is in the dining room if you want any," he says softly. For a moment, I think I'm full from eating an entire pie, but then I remember that I need to gain some weight for the arena.

"Okay," I say, sitting up. I look up into his emerald eyes. They stare back at me with a look of complete adoration. He silently offers me his hand, and leads me to the dining room.

Volumnia sits at the table, sipping a blue and green drink from a cone shaped glass with a thin stem. She looks up at us, and smiles, pulling her bright pink lips tightly against her teeth. Wade and I come over and sit down across from her.

"Look who's up!" she says, as if I were a toddler waking up from a nap. I shoot her a deadly glare, and begin eating in the most uncivilized manner possible. The food is absolutely delicious: we feast on these rice and seaweed rolls called sushi. They all have different kinds of fish in them, and are all covered in exotic sauces. I can see why the District Four tributes have packed on the pounds.

Within minutes I am finished. I look up to see Volumnia staring at me with a look of utmost horror on her face, and see Wade smiling at me.

"That's great food there," I say filling my mouth with more food to disgust Volumnia further, though I'm full and don't plan on swallowing it. Across the table, Volumnia gags, and spits the expensive food into her equally expensive and colorful drink. At that, I begin cracking up. Suddenly, I hear a slamming noise, and realize Volumnia made the slamming noise with her fist, her purple clad finger-nails digging into her skin.

"I have absolutely had it up to _here_ with you, Briar. I'm sick and tired of your attitude toward me. I can save your life when you're in there, I can get you some sponsors. But of course, you 'forget' that, and think you can stomp all over me. No, I am sick of it. I understand you have anger and resentment towards the Capital. I do, and I live here. But before you go insulting and making fun of me, at least get to know me," says Volumnia. Her speech has left me without words. This is the first I have time I have ever heard a bit of intelligence from a Capital citizen.

"This whole time, your ignorance was…. An act. You're intelligent. You actually feel," I say so quietly, it's barely audible.

"Yes. I actually am," she says back.

"Why? Why act? And why do you hate the Capital too?" I ask, not grasping her view on things yet.

"I act because I am afraid of being killed. Sixteen years ago, my mother was in the Rebellion. She would harbor district refugees, and feed them secrets she heard from war leaders who were friends with my father. He didn't even know what she was doing. Totally oblivious. Then, the president found out about what she was doing, and murdered both my mother and my father. He would have killed me if I wasn't beautiful. He said I was worth keeping. I have lived in fear since that day. I was twelve." She finishes quietly, a silent tear sliding down her rosy pink cheeks, not ruining her perfect makeup. I realize I do not hate her; I admire her for her bravery, her intelligence. Volumnia is a true survivor. I also now realize that it's not just the Districts that have it hard. People in the Capital also have hard lives, some of the time. I still have a deep anger and disgust towards the people who live in the Capital, for cheering and betting on the precious lives of young children. But I also realize that some of them are human beings, too.

"Oh, Volumnia. I had no idea. I'm so sorry…" I say quietly.

She smiles sadly. "It's not as bad, because I knew she died trying to make other people's lives better. I try to act blissful and ignorant, because I'm afraid that if I show deeper emotion, or some intelligence, they will find me, and kill me." Outside, I can hear rain soothingly beating down on the roof. I feel like the weather is reflecting the deep level of emotions in the room right now. There are a few moments of a comfortable silence, each of us staring out of the gigantic window, watching the headlights of cars glitter and distort behind the rain.

Then, Wade speaks up for the first time in a bit. "This rain is making me tired. I'm going to go catch some sleep so I have enough energy for tomorrow."

"I think I'll go to bed too," I say quietly. "And Volumnia, thanks for telling me that. I have a whole new feeling towards you now. Good night."

"Good night you two," she says as we walk away.

When we get into my room, I change into some new pajamas that an Avox left out for me. These ones are deep purple, and are the same silky texture as the black ones. I put my long hair into a braid to the side, and curl up next to Wade under the soft comforter.

"Wade?" I say gently.

"Hmm?" he says back.

"Earlier today, you said you loved me. Were you telling the truth?"

"Of course I was telling you the truth! Why would I lie about such an important thing? Briar, I really do love you. When you're being sarcastic and mean, when you are thinking, sleeping, looking at me." The last part that he says makes me turn a bright red color. I didn't know that he saw me staring at him in the Chariot. "Briar, do you love me too? Do you feel the same way I do?"

"Wade, I-I-…" I trailed off and didn't answer for a second, because despite the way I felt defensive and protective over him, I don't know if I really love him. I don't really know what love outside of my family is. But now I realize what I feel for him. I would die for him. Love is undying: love is eternal. I look up at him, and see him smiling warmly at me. He embraces me, and I smell the fresh pine scent that reminds me so much of home. Then he loosens his grip on me a bit, and looks me in the eyes, then leans in and kisses me softly. I kiss back. I feel him smile beneath the kiss. He pulls back and continues smiling, hugging me close to his warm body.

This moment, right here, right now, is beyond perfect, with the rain softly coming down, with Wade and I together, safe and sound. I rest my chin on his shoulder, and murmur before I fall asleep.

"I love you too, Wade. I always will."

**A/N: Sorry this one's so short. And cliché. But I wanted to convey this part of Volumnia. So, please review. Next chapter will be up around Tuesday~ish. Maybe earlier if I'm up to it.**


	8. Day Two of Training

Chapter 8:

Day Two of Training

This time, I wake up to Wade combing gently through my hair with his nimble fingers. He is sitting up against the decorative headboard of the bed, looking down at me, smiling.

"Morning, beautiful," Wade says softly. "You're up early. It's only four, and training starts at… Heck, I don't even know when it starts. As long as Volumnia gets up in time, we're good. Did you notice that since we've been here I haven't slept in my given room?"

"Yea," I murmur. I don't want to wake up. I'm so warm and comfortable right now; with the soft pelt of the rain on the roof, and with Wade stroking my hairline. Out the window, I can see the sun barely peeking up over the jagged peaks of the mountains, painting the sky a soft violet-magenta color. There are a few peach colored clouds stretched across the sky. It's beautiful. "Look outside. It's so pretty."

"Just like you," Wade says, absently stroking my hair as he looks out the window. "If only… if only we weren't being sent to our deaths soon… If only we would have fallen in love before this… If only…" he trails off sadly.

"Wade, look at me. Let's think positively. Let's make the days in the arena the best ones. Let's live in the present. Look forward, and don't regret what's dead and gone," I say.

"Okay, Briar. I will."

"Wade, there's this game that my sister came up with when days got really bad. It's called The Rose and The Thorn. At the end, or in this case, or beginning of the day, we would say what the good part of our day was, The Rose, and what the bad part was, The Thorn. Try it. Do it for this situation that we are in," I say.

"Well, that's an easy one. The Rose of our situation is having each other, and falling in love. The Thorn of course, is being sent to our inevitable deaths. Another Thorn is that it took this awful game to bring us together."

"See, though there are Thorns, The Rose is the best part, the part to look for," I say, smiling. I find his hand, and entwine my fingers with his. I begin to hum a song that Grandmama would sing when I was younger, when I was worried that I would be Reaped.

_Don't you fret my dear_

_It'll all be over soon_

_I'll be waiting here for you_

And though the lyrics were haunting, I always felt soothed from listening to her sing them to me.

"Briar, what was that?" Wade asks, breaking a long silence.

"Oh, it's just some old song my grandmother sang while she was in The Rebellion. She always sang it to me when I was younger," I say back quietly. I look out the window. The sky has turned from deep violet to a soft blue-purple color, the sun peeking even more over the mountains.

"Look, it's only five. I suppose we should sleep for a bit more, since training starts at _about_ eight," Wade says. He leans down, and kisses my forehead before wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close to him.

"Briar, wake up," Wade says quietly. "It's six thirty. I think we should get up now."

"Humphrrrgg…" I mumble groggily.

"Come on, beautiful. You need to get ready for breakfast, which is at seven."

"Ugh… I don't want to."

"Come on," Wade says playfully.

"Fine. But under one condition: you have to sing something to me. Unexpectedly too. So you can't just sing right now. It has to be random," I smile at my evil condition.

"Of course. Now, I shall leave and shower," he says in a dramatic voice.

"Have fun with that," I say sarcastically. Then I take a shower and dress in the provided Training outfit. I'm done with this by 6:58. I'm just in time. I walk out into the dining room, and find Wade and Volumnia sitting at the table, sipping from crystal mugs. I take a seat beside Wade, and grab a croissant with blackberry jam in it. Volumnia looks up from the touch screen object that she's holding, and smiles. She looks beautiful. She looks natural and real, with only a minimal amount of makeup on. Her blonde hair is in cork screw curls, and part of it is in a bun on the top of her head, and the rest of her curls are bouncing on the sides. She is wearing a purple and gold mini-dress. Then, she frowns.

"What's wrong?" Wade asks.

"It's just that…" she doesn't finish her sentence, just shows us the touch screen object in her hand. It shows a picture of two people in a bed, with a heading of: **Lovers From District Seven? Hot Pictures From an Inside Source. **Those people in the picture were Wade and I! But how did they get a picture of us?

"Volumnia, it isn't what you think it is…. We weren't doing _that_. We're just teenagers! Besides, how did they get those photos?" I ask. " I bet it was Dill… That jerk would probably do anything for publicity!"

"Tap on the part that says 'Inside Source'. It might give us a clue as to who did it. Surely they would want recognition for such scandalous pictures," Volumnia says. I touch the part that says 'Inside Source' and sure enough, this "Inside Source" is Dill.

"Where is he? I will kill him! Let me at him!" I scream through clenched teeth.

"Hey," Volumnia says calmly, "this could be good publicity for you. The Capital citizens love this sort of thing." It does seem like the kind of thing that the socialites would like. They might like to sponsor the lovers from seven. I can remember a year when two people from different districts fell in love. The girl died, and the boy won. He looked so broken and devastated in the interviews after his game. But they did get lots of great things in the arena from their sponsors. "Do you two actually love each other? Please, you don't have to lie to me." Volumnia says.

Wade and I both hesitate. I don't know what to say to her. I mean, we do love each other, but it's sacred. I feel that no one deserves to know. But before I can say something, Wade steps in. "Yes, we are. And we were debating if we should show it in the arena."

"Oh, yes a hard choice indeed. I say, go with the 'Lovers from Seven' theme. I think I can sell that. Sponsors will just eat that up!" she says excitedly. "So at the interviews tomorrow night, you should both act shy towards each other. Marc will most likely question one of you about the other."

"Okay. When does training start, and what time is it now?" Wade says.

"It is about seven thirty now, and training starts at eight o'clock sharp," Volumnia says in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Hit it right on the money!" says Wade, causing me to smile, which is strange, because I normally never smile in the morning and because of what Dill did. "Why don't we go down early this time since we were so late last time?"

"Good idea, Wade. Why, Briar, you are awfully quiet right now. Is anything the matter?" Volumnia asks kindly.

"Oh, no. I just can't believe Dill snuck into my room, and planted cameras everywhere. I'll have to go in there and destroy them all," I say coldly.

"I'll help you. Now let's get to training," Wade says with a smile. Volumnia walks up in front of us, and leads us into the hallway to a luxurious elevator. We go down multiple levels before arriving in the underground training center. Only a few people are down here. It's only Careers. Great. We'll have to spend more time with them.

"Oh, I heard about your little… escapade last night…" Silver says suggestively. The whole pack behind her starts laughing and snorting. "You little slut. You think just because you're going to die in two days, you can just get into his pants. Please." She struts up to Wade and puts her hand on Wade's shoulder from behind. Then she walks around him, pivoting on her hand in what she probably thinks is a seductive way. "You like me, don't you Wade?"

"Umm, no," he says simply. She looks at him like he just told her the biggest secret in all the world.

"Are you telling me that you like _her_ and not me? You've got to be kidding me Wade! We're probably the two most good looking people in this place, and you're telling me you like _her_?" screeches Silver.

"I'm pretty sure he's serious, Silver. I mean, why else would he have said that?" I say defensively. From behind me, I can hear Sagitarria's husky voice.

"Ah, leave her alone. Leave him alone too. If we're going to end up killing them, let's at least give them something happy," Sagitarria says to Silver, who immediately backs off.

"Well, it's too bad you don't get me," Silver says in her nasally voice. She and her crew stalk off, leaving Sagitarria alone with us.

"How was I?" she asks in a low voice once the Careers are gone.

"Well, they left us alone. So I'm thinking that you're a higher ranking person in the pack, which means that you can gain their trust, then destroy it. Are you going into the arena with them or us? Because, if you chose to, you could kill them in their sleep," I say. That would be a brilliant plan.

"No, I can't kill them in their sleep because they sleep with two awake at once, so that you won't betray them. Unless…. Unless I can get one of them to join me, and get the night shift with that person. None of the true Careers will betray one of their own. But yesterday they were talking about letting Skene, the gigantic boy from eleven, into the pack. I think they were going to ask him to join us today. Then I will plan with him and the game will be in the hands of the underdogs… This year, the game will be the most exciting yet!" Sagitarria says with an evil laugh. An elevator comes down, and lets out about ten people. I see Winnow get out of the elevator with Katri and Whytt.

"Today, our trainer said that we should go a bit more physical. Try our hand at some weapons," says Katri.

"That sounds good to me. I haven't had my hands on an axe in a while," I say excitedly. "We'll need those skills and survival skills as well. So it's good to try multiple things. What are some weapons that you might be good with?"

"I can use a knife pretty well, because up in the trees we sometimes have to saw off whole stalks of fruit," says Winnow shyly.

"I am useless. I could probably use some random things to be an explosive, but other than that, I'm pretty useless as far as weapons go. I can think of solutions on the spot, though, to any problem. That may include thinking of a weapon to make in that instant," Whytt says humbly.

"I'm pretty much the same as him," Katri says simply.

Beck, who had, for once, been silently watching stepped in: "I'm fast. I haven't really had my try with many weapons yet, but I think I'll go for the spear soon here."

"Okay, this is a great start guys. My grandfather's a butcher, so I'm okay with a knife. Slicing that is. I'm pretty sure I couldn't throw it more than ten feet," Wade says disappointedly.

"Sagitarria's good with a knife. She gets into little scuffles at school with jealous girls, and for some reason has a knife. And sometimes it ends up flying through the air." Beck stops and smiles, as if remembering better times. "She's been expelled a couple times apparently, just for these little fights. She's really smart. Those stupid teachers just can't get over the violence, which is being endorsed by our government! I just don't get it. And our teachers say they don't believe in the games, but they bet on the students that are Reaped. I walked into the Teacher's Lounge, and saw them watching the television screen with the names and scores on them. The teachers had wads of money in their hands and were yelling names and numbers out. It was just disgusting." I stand there, and gawk at him. What he's just told us is sickening. I'd always thought that adults were afraid of the Reapings, that they hated them. But what those teachers did, according to Beck that is, is just…

"Oh my gods. Beck, is this true?" Katri asks, horrified. He sadly nods his head. We are all standing there in thought, when a loud voice booms over the Training Center area.

"Hey! Listen up! Training starts in five minutes. I need you all to follow the ground rules we covered yesterday. I'm sure you all remember them. Don't hurt each other, don't hurt yourself. Okay?" the giant lady who yelled about lunch yesterday yells. I think her name is Barbara. Everyone nods their heads, and spreads off into the station they plan on working at.

For the next four hours, Katri and I spend our time at the bow and arrow section and the axe station. It turns out that Katri is amazing with a bow. From twenty feet away, she could hit the bulls-eye, on her very first try. When the arrow arced and landed directly on-target, she only smiled humbly. What a polite girl.

At the axe station, I pretended that I could barely lift the axe. I decided that I would save my strength for the private time with the Gamemakers. At least I got my hands on one, and enhanced my act for the Careers: the weak girl from District 7. Soon, they'll find that they're very wrong.

Our alliance meets at the same table we sat at yesterday after Barbara called us to lunch.

"What's up, guys?" Beck says as he sits down next to me. Wade looks over at him as if telling him to back off, even though Beck hasn't even made a move on me yet. Beck puts his arms up as if surrendering. Wade shoots me a smile and a wink. I roll my eyes at him, but smile.

"I'm so hungry! The trainer at the spear section mad us lift weights, only to make us do pull-ups. She eventually let us try spears, but by the end of the time there was only me and some guy named Skene. What a weird name, right? He's such a brute for being from District 11," says Beck. Skene is the boy that Sagitarria was talking about allying with.

"Beck, I think Skene is going to help Sagitarria take down the Career pack, if she can talk to him without being stamped into the ground," I say. Beck looks at me with a confused expression. I explain: "If the Careers are stupid enough o let two newbies into their group, Sagitarria and Skene, then if Sagitarria and Skene get the night shift watching the camp, they can kill the Careers while they are sleeping." He nods his head understandingly. Then, he looks over his shoulder at where the Careers are sitting, most likely searching for her.

"She's so wonderful. Risking her life for people she doesn't really know. And in my case, a person she hates," he says sadly.

"Beck, listen to me: she will never come back to you. What you did was awful. She most likely will never forget what you did. After all, they said in ancient times that you never forget your first true love. Whether you remember them in a positive way, or a negative way, you still remember them," Katri says knowingly.

"Wait- yesterday you asked Sagitarria what it was like to be in love, and now you seem to be the expert on love," I say.

"Well, I have read many old books and things that were called plays about love, but have never actually been in love myself," Katri says. Then she shyly peeks over at Whytt, who has his dark head hanging low. "Whytt, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he says. "It's just… I feel sick. I ate way too quickly." Katri rubs her dark hand over his back, the way a mother would to console a saddened child.

The rest of our meal goes on silently. I can tell that Whytt isn't really sick. The Capital chefs would never want to injure the contestants that were their entertainment. I think his sadness has something to do with Katri's love speech. Then it hits me- Whytt likes Katri, but she doesn't know it.

As we are leaving lunch, I notice that Whytt is still sitting there, not moving. Katri looks over to me, but I wave my hand and shout, "I'll be over soon."

"Whytt? What's _really_ got you down? I know for a fact that it isn't food poisoning. Just tell me what's wrong," I say calmly.

He seems hesitant, then sighs. "It's Katri. I thought that she liked me back. She seemed like she did. But, I guess that I was wrong. Love is so stupid."

"Whytt, love isn't always stupid. Being so young as we all are, we just don't know what is very well. Not everyone that you like will always like you back. That is true. But the way she looked at you when she said all that, she showed that she has loved. And the fact that she looked at you tells us who she loves," I say kindly. He looks up at me hopefully, his big brown eyes glistening with tears.

"Really? You think so? I know I'm only fourteen, and she is too, but we can still love, right? But I shouldn't tell her that I love her because I'm probably going to die soon," he says sadly.

"Oh, Whytt. It's okay. You should tell her. And you never know, there might just be a winner form District Three this year." I chose my words carefully, trying not to sound too optimistic, or too pessimistic for him. "Come on. Let's go train." I offered him my hand, and he took it, following me to the large room. "Go tell her now," I whispered into his ear. He looked up at me, and nodded once before running off to find his love.

The rest of training flew by, me training with Wade at the spear station. He can handle a spear very well. But, like Katri, he is very humble about his skills.

"Well, that concludes our second day of training. How was it?" Wade says as we settle down in my room after training.

"Ummm….It was dramatic for Whytt, but other than that, it was boring. Now, let's find those darned cameras," I say, and begin searching everything in the room for hidden cameras. Then, when I came to the giant window, I hear a machine-like sound. I look to the source of the sound, and find the black glassy eye of a camera.

"Wade! I found one over here! How should we destroy it?" I yelled.

"Hm. I don't know. Why don't we just cover it up for now? I'm tired," Wade says.

"Okay. Wait- are you hungry? If we go to sleep now, we probably won't get anything to eat, unless Volumnia comes in, and you know she doesn't 'enjoy busting our privacy'."

"I'm not too hungry. I ate a lot at lunch. How about you?" he asks kindly.

"Nah, I'm not too hungry. If I do get hungry, I'll just get a midnight snack," I say back.

"Okay, g'night."

I walk over to the desk, and slip into the black silky nightgown that is very short with spaghetti thin straps. Normally, I wouldn't wear something like this, especially when sharing a bed with someone, but since I am so tired, I lie down in it. I lie in Wade's arms, awake.

When I finally feel my eyelids begin to droop shut, it is 9:30. Volumnia hasn't come in to offer us dinner. Maybe she has a party, where she can beg people to sponsor Wade. There is no way in hell that I would get a sponsor based off of my performances on television. My eyes close, and I fall into a deep sleep, dreaming of my future.

**A/N: Another super long chapter! Sorry it took so long. I had soccer and soooo much homework. I hope you can forgive me. **

**The song that Briar sang in the beginning of the chapter was "Kingdom Come" by The Civil Wars (an amazing band!) All rights and lyrics and whatever go to them. I own nothing!**


	9. Don't Be Afraid

Chapter 9:

Don't Be Afraid

_I am locked in one of the Capital's cars with Wade. Our car is in the middle of an abandoned street in a city that looks like the ones from the textbooks our teachers made us read. The doors surrounding us are locked, but I feel very unsafe. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a gigantic mob of people. I turn to look at them, and realize that only at the head of the mob are people. Following the people are these hideous creatures. Mutts. These muttations were a mix of wolf and bat. They had blood-red eyes and gigantic fangs dripping slobber. Sprouting from their skinny backs were vein-covered wings that resembled those of a bat. These were creatures that looked like they came straight from hell; they were Hell-Hounds._

_The mob began coming toward the car Wade and I were in. As they approached, the mutts turned into different tributes. The people at the head of the mob are my allies. The very front is Sagitarria, with Beck, Katri, and Whytt following her. Sagitarria has an absolute look of blood-lust in her beautiful eyes. She has a malicious grin on her face. In one of her hands is a dagger, and in the other is an aluminum bat._

"_Wade! What's going on?" I yell. The mob is getting closer. _

"_I-I don't know. But they can't break the glass. It's a rule. We have until they can break the door hinges to live. Briar, if one of us must die, it should be me. I love you. You have to live, for me. This is good-bye. Don't be afraid." He leans down and kisses me, gently and lovingly. I feel tears build up behind my eyes, my chin is trembling. He looks at me one last time, then reaches over and opens the car door._

"_Wade! Don't leave me! Please!" I yell behind him, even after he's gone. The mob is still trying to kill me, alone in the car. I look up the road, and see Wade sprinting forward, leaving me behind with the bloodthirsty tributes. The mob comes up to the car, and begins hitting and smashing the car with hammers, axes, and bats._

"_Help! Wade! Please, help me!" I cry desperately. The door makes a squeaky noise, and begins to droop down. "No!" I scream. Finally, the door falls off. Sagitarria smiles evilly, and reaches in with eager hands to grab me. I squirm to the other side of the car seat, just to meet Beck and Whytt. "NO!"_

…_._

"Briar? Are you okay? It sounded like you were having a nightmare," Wade says with concerned eyes.

"I was. It was awful. Everyone wanted to kill us, and we were in a car, and they began hitting the car, and then you left me, and then…" I say in a rush, only to trail off and begin shaking.

"It's okay," he says softly, pulling me closer to him. "I'm right here, and nobody wants to kill you."

"Wade. They do. They already want to kill me," I say sadly into his shoulder. "It was Sagitarria. And Beck, and Whytt, and even sweet little Katri. They all wanted to kill me."

"Briar, it was just a dream. It's only midnight, get back to sleep," he says as he combs my hair with his fingers, lulling me to sleep.

….

When I wake up, I feel Wade running his fingers through my long hair. I can hear him humming my song. I look up at him and see him smiling down at me. His curly locks of hair were falling into his bright eyes.

"Any more nightmares?" he says. I shake my head no and look out the wide window. What I see is a sight that makes my heart leap, and brings a smile to my face. There is fluffy white snow falling around the city, piling up on our window-sill.

"Wade! Look! It's snowing out there!" I say gleefully. I run to the window, and place my face against it, wanting to get as close to the snow as possible. The cool glass feels soothing on my hot skin.

"Oh, that's great! Too bad we can't go outside," he says, getting up and coming to my side.

"Yeah," I mumble, mesmerized by the beauty surrounding me. Since it's still early morning, and not many people's lights are on, the sky is a light purple, illuminated this color from the snow and distant city lights. "It's so beautiful," I say quietly.

"Looks like home," he says happily, settling his arm around my shoulders.

"Yeah," I say sadly, thinking of Grandmama and mother. How I miss them. On snowy days, when Violet was still alive, we would go outside and throw snowballs at each other, laughing gleefully. "I miss home, Wade. I'm probably not going to see it ever again. I just hope that you do."

"Briar, listen to me," he says, taking my face in his hands. "I'm serious; you will win, and you will make it back home. You're strong enough, smart enough, and you're fast enough. I will do whatever I can to ensure that you make it back home. Don't be afraid to try to win."

"Wade, I want you to win. Can you listen to my request please? If anybody deserves to win, it's you," I say.

"Don't you understand me? I'm giving you the chance to win. If you don't want to kill me, we probably shouldn't stick together," he says coldly.

"What? Wade, don't do this-" I plead, but he cuts me off.

"I love you. If you love me too, you'll win for me. I know that you're stronger than me. You're more able to win than I am. So please, for me, don't try to stick with me in the arena," he says more kindly now. His beautiful green eyes are looking into my plain blue ones, begging me.

"No! I won't! I don't want to win if I can't be with you for the last days of our lives!" I say, tears welling behind my eyes. I can feel my chin trembling. "Please, don't Wade!"

"Briar, don't be afraid. You can and will live on without me, do you understand me?" he says, holding my face with his strong hands. He said the same thing in my dream. Don't be afraid. I nod, tears slipping down my face. But my nod isn't sincere. I'll do whatever I can to keep him alive.

**A/N: I'm sosososososooo sorry about the lateness and shortness of this chapter. I haven't been getting too many reviews on this one, and reviews are what inspire me to write for the most part! Reviews are like cookies: you can never have too many! So please, for the sake of this story: review!**


	10. Final Training Day

Chapter 10:

Final Training Day

His eyes are searching my face, trying to decide if I'm lying. I feel another tear slide down my cheek, but his thumb wipes it away. I can see so much love and care in his eyes. Which makes me feel even guiltier for lying to him.

"What's up with this sappy Briar? That is not the Briar that I know and love! I love the witty and snappy girl who doesn't care about anyone!" Wade says jokingly, pulling us out of our corny moment.

"Oh, so you don't want me to care about you anymore?" I say, sniffing. Wade has managed to turn a very serious conversation into a joke. I recover from my real sadness, and put on a fake sad face. "So you don't love _this_ Briar?"

He smiles and says, "Well, no. I _like_ that Briar, but it isn't really _you_."

"Oh yeah? I can be a softie sometimes, right?" I say teasingly.

"No! You have to be a hard-ass all the time. NO sappy moments!" he says.

"Whatever," I say, and roll my eyes.

"See, there's the hard-ass!" He laughs, his bright green eyes lit up.

"Hmm… The way you keep saying that makes it sound like you're looking at my butt," I say, sitting up from my laying down position.

"I might have been, I might have been…" he says with a smirk. I laugh and hit him playfully.

"I guess we need to get dressed now, don't we?" I say.

"Yeah, I guess," he says. "I'll see you in ten then." I nod, and he walks out. I get up and address the mess that is my hair.

"Might as well take a shower," I mumble as I stumble into the bathroom. I strip my clothes and turn on the shower. I walk in and am met with a rush of freezing cold water. _Nothing like gallons of freezing cold water to wake you up in the morning, _I think coldly. I turn around to face the keypad and change the settings, but I can't see what I'm doing, so my hand slides around the pad, making beeping noises. The water suddenly becomes very warm, and somehow feels softer. The room fills with the scent of vanilla and lemon. I smile in content, and leave the settings alone.

Ten minutes later, when I'm completely clean and dressed, I walk out into the dining room and meet a cheerful Volumnia and a smiling Wade.

"Good morning!" Volumnia chirps.

"It sure is! I'm one day closer to my death now!" I say in a falsely cheery voice.

"Briar! We do not need that kind of attitude! You are a very strong tribute, and I believe in you!" she screeches. Then, she looks over to Wade and adds, "I believe in you, too. Don't worry!"

"I wasn't worrying. Briar, remember our talk from earlier?" Wade says seriously.

"Oh. Yeah," I say. How could I forget my lying to him? I walk over to the table and fill a glass with a green liquid that smells like earth and dirt. I slug it down, and burp. Volumnia gives me a horrified look, and I smile proudly.

"Well, today's the last day of training! Yay! That means that they're going to work you harder to make sure that you know what you're doing in the arena!" she says, changing the subject.

"Yep," I say, reaching forward to grab a fluffy croissant. I slather it in raspberry jam like before, and eat it whole. "I don't want to hear it, Volumnia," I add after seeing her shocked look. Wade snorts then covers it up with a cough.

"You people…" she says. I laugh and grab a handful of some red and sticky seeds. I shove them into my mouth and am surprised by a gush of sour juices.

"Pomegranate," Volumnia says. "They can be quite delicious when they're in season, but those pickers in Eleven always pick them way too early, so it's way to sour to eat now. But those Avoxes always put it out."

"Yum," I say as I grab another handful of seeds.

"Okay. Finish up, you guys, and then we'll go down to training," Volumnia says. We both nod and swallow our food. We stand up and approach the elevator. She enters some sort of keycard into a slot and the doors slide open. We step into a luxurious gold elevator cab. Volumnia presses a button and we begin the speedy trip to the training rooms. Within moments, we are in the training center.

Wade and I are pushed out of the elevator. I turn and see a smiling Volumnia in the elevator. She quickly turns her head, slides her keycard, punches in a number, and the cab speeds upward. I walk to the large group of people and listen to what the head coach Elise says.

"Okay. Listen up. Training will be cut short today because you all have your private sessions with the Head Gamemakers. Instead of ending at the normal time, we will be ending after lunch. So, that means that if there's anything that you still need to try, do it now because it's your last chance to practice or gain any skills that you may want or need. Then tomorrow you will all have the whole day to practice your interview speeches. And tomorrow night will be the actual Interviews. And your last night here in the Capital!"

Everyone nods, and then disperse to various stations around the room. Wade takes my hand in his and we wander around to find a station that neither of us has gone to. Of course there are tons of places that we haven't learned the skill of, but that's because they all seem useless.

"How about knot tying? That might come in handy. Snares and stuff," Wade says.

"When will that help us in the arena?" I say, a questioning look on my face.

"If we find string in the arena and need to make traps and snares," he says, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Honestly, Briar."

I punch him lightly in the arm, but smile too. He rubs his arm in fake agony, a twisted look on his face.

"Fine. We'll tie knots like the Careers from Four. I guess I'm a hypocrite now, though, for saying that I would never ever be like a Career. The irony," I say. I approach the station, and am shocked at what I see. Laid out on the floor are examples of intricately tied ropes, some attached or tied to the large fake tree towards the back of the station. Draped around the tree is a net that I'm guessing was hand-woven. The mentor for this station has his head ducked down, bent over his latest masterpiece.

I clear my throat to catch his attention, but he continues working. I clear it again, louder. No response. "Sir, you have students. Er, tributes," I say loudly, attempting once again to get his attention.

"I heard you before you started speaking," he says, his head still bent down.

"Then why aren't you teaching us?" I demand.

"I am teaching you. It's called patience. And it looks like you need as much of it as possible," he replies. Wade chuckles behind me, which makes me even angrier.

"I wanted to learn how to tie a knot or two. Not how to wait for an old man to slip his bony old fingers into a piece of string!" I yell, earning me some snorts and giggles from around the room.

The man finally looks up, and, without saying a word, corrects me. He isn't an old man. He looks to be about twenty years old. There is a gorgeous smile on his lips, his lips curled back to reveal sparkling white teeth. He has tanned skin and blue eyes and dark brown hair in layers. He is handsome in a different way than Wade is.

"Not so old, am I?" he says, standing up. He offers me a hand. I take it hesitantly, but relax when he smiles coolly and goes to shake Wade's hand. I turn my head and catch a glimpse of Wade. I think I see a glint of jealousy in them. He shouldn't be jealous. No one else would want me. "The name's Caine, by the way."

"Briar," I tell him.

"And you?" Caine turns to Wade, who glares at Caine.

"I don't think you need to know. You'll learn later when you're placing bets on people. I'll be one of them," Wade says coldly. This is the first time that I've seen him like this. Normally he is bright and bubbly.

"Okay then. Time to tie some knots, eh?" Caine says, and grabs some rope that lays draped on a tree branch.

We spend the next four hours tying and untying knots. Caine places his hands over mine, showing me the fingering patterns to create the knots. I know Wade is fuming next to me. I want to tell him that it's only him, that I would never like anyone else, but I refuse to be sappy and mushy in front of Caine because he's only seen the snappy and witty part of me.

When Elise calls us all to eat lunch, I try to stop Wade and talk to him, but he storms off, leaving me standing at the knots station. I sigh, and start to follow him to the cafeteria, but I feel a strong, soft hand grab onto my wrist. Caine.

I whip around and get up into his face. "What do you want?"

"Just letting you know that my bets are all on you. You look like you have what it takes to win. Then, when you return, you'll come out here," he says, making my stomach twist and knot. Why would I come back to the Capital? Wouldn't I return to Seven?

"Oh, come on Briar! Don't pretend like you don't know what happens to Victors. You remember Victoria? And Cherine? You saw them float from man to man on television at the balls and galas." I realize I know exactly what happens to the Victors. At least the appealing or attractive ones.

"But… But they wouldn't want me," I say in terror.

He grins evilly. "Oh yes they would. You're attractive, clever, and feisty. The men would love all of that stuff," he says. "But, I have some good news. If you do end up winning, and end up agreeing to the, uh, 'terms' the president presents, I can get you. Not permanently, but for a little while"

"What?" I say in disgust. "Like a sex slave?"

"No. I would 'have' you so that you don't have to go from man to man as often. Just stay with me," he says, sincerity in his eyes. I want to tell him that everything that he's said is just a big lie, that it's not true. But I know better than that.

"What do you say?" he asks, now holding my hand with both of his.

"I… I won't. I would never do that to Wade," I say, trying to escape his grasp, which is tightening. "I have to go to lunch, Caine."

His bright blue eyes suddenly turn cold and icy. "Wade. I should have known that you two were 'together'. I saw those pictures, but I thought that they were photo-shopped. Oh no. They weren't. But now, my offer isn't an offer. It's a command. If you don't, I will have your family killed."

I stare at him in shock. He wouldn't do that. Would he? "You wouldn't do that."

He laughs cruelly. "You have no idea what I would do."

"Fine! Okay. I'll do it. Whatever. Just don't hurt my family, please," I say in shame. I'd let him win. Then, I realize something. "I will, under one condition: if you sponsor Wade and I."

"That's a very small price. I was going to sponsor you anyway, but now I guess I have to sponsor you both, isn't that right?"

"Yes, yes it is. Now, would you _please_ let me go?"

"Whatever you say, Princess." With that, he releases my wrist. I run to the cafeteria, and slip in quietly when Elise has her back turned. I quickly scan the room, and find my loud group of friends. I sprint to the table and am met with questioning glances. I sit down next to Katri and scoop some of the rice that she has in a bowl into my mouth.

"You could ask!" she exclaims. I smile and shrug my shoulders, not giving her a real reply.

"Where were you?" Beck asks.

"Practicing my knots. The instructor held me back because my knots suck. If we need to make some fishing knots, we're either going to have to go into the Cornucopia to get them, or someone else has to make them," I say, bringing giggles and smiles from everyone at the table. Everyone but Wade.

"Oh, that's interesting. Because my buddy Wade here thinks you and the instructor over there were flirting with each other," Beck says casually, as if he didn't know my heart was breaking. Wade thought I was flirting with Caine. My stomach dropped and I felt tears rush behind my eyes.

"No. That's not at all what was happening. Like I said, he was teaching me how to do the one knot I needed to complete my snare. Nothing beyond that. If anything, he was flirting with _me!" _I yell at Beck. I'm not mad at him. I'm mad at Wade, for pouting like this and not actually talking to me. And for not trusting me to be near Caine.

Beck throws his hands up as if telling me to back off. "Don't get all pissy with me just because your boyfriend is whining and jealous. Yeesh!"

"It's good, Beck. I'm not mad at anyone," I lie. "I'm hungry. Who will share their food with me?" Katri nudges me and puts the bowl of rice that I had already eaten from in front of me. "Thank you!" I find a fork and shovel the rice into my mouth, not caring that the fork is dropping rice everywhere.

We eat in silence. I guess people are nervous for the sessions with the Gamemakers. I haven't even been thinking about what I'm going to in there until now. Should I go with my ax handling or something else? I'm not really too good at anything else, so ax handling it will be.

"Alright, everyone! Time for you private sessions with the Gamemakers. You can just leave your trays where they are. Please follow me out of these doors here. We're going to take a left into this hallway. From there, we go down two flights of stairs, down another hallway, then you will all take seats in District order in the seats lining that hall there. Clear?" Elise yelled, cutting short people's conversations. She looked around to see if people had understood all of the directions, which they all clearly did not. "Oh, whatever. Just follow me out of here." The people at our table rise, and join the large crowd of people that re milling around the room, headed towards the entrance.

"Do you know what you are going to do?" Willow asks me. "In your session I mean."

"Um… I think that I'm going to show them my ax handling skills. How about you?" I ask.

"I have no idea. Normally, by the time my district comes around, they are bored so they won't pay much attention to us. Even if I was doing something amazing, I would've gotten a low score. They only like the Careers," she says. I nod, and jog to catch up to Katri, who is happily speaking with Whytt.

"Hey guys! What are you going to do in your sessions?" I ask.

"It's classified information," they say at the same time. Katri giggles and Whytt grabs a hold of her hand.

"Okay," I say, and fall back down to Willow. We walk in silence, following the group down stairs and through hallways until we find the hallway with chairs lined up on the left side of the hall.

"Okay, group. I will call your district up, and I want you to sit boy then girl, okay?" Elise yells. We all nod and she begins to call out the district numbers. "One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven…" I push through the crowd to the seats she is at. I sit down next to Wade, and steal glances at him every now and then. But he just sits and faces straight forward, not saying a word.

He finally speaks when Elise is done counting down. "What did he really say to you? During lunch?"

"You don't want to know," I say quietly.

He takes my face in his hands, his expression hard. "Yes, I do want to know."

"He said that he had his bets on me," I say, only revealing part of what he said. Wade can tell that I'm not saying everything.

"What else?"

"He told me what happens to Victors," I say, still not saying everything.

"What else?"

I sigh. "He said that when I win, I will have to return to the Capital. And go from man to man. And to him," I whisper, choking up.

"Oh, God," he says, pulling me into an embrace. It feels so good to hold him, to smell him. I can feel myself about to cry. I breathe in a deep and shuddery breath. His hand goes up to clutch my neck to his chest. "I'm so sorry, Briar. I'm sorry." I say nothing, just hold him to me to remember this feeling. Our bodies together.

"What will we do?" I ask quietly.

"Where? When?" he asks back.

"In the arena. If I have to return to that, I don't want to return. And I don't want you to come to that. Wade, please tell me," I ask like a young child.

"I don't know Briar. I can't tell. It's so screwed up, this country. They promise you happiness, safety, wealth, and food if you win. And in reality, you only get two of those things. No Victor is happy. They all end up drug addicts, alcoholics, or prostitutes in the Capital. No safety either. They're always threatening the Victors. If you don't do this, this will happen, or they will die. It's all just so damn messed up," Wade says. I nod in understanding. The Capital lied to us all. They have been for sixteen years. What kind of government would do that?

"It is. It truly is," I agree. "Here goes sappy Briar again, but I'm glad that we get each other from this messed up government."

He smiles, and gently pulls my head from his chest so that he can look into my eyes. "Eh. I guess that Briar isn't that bad." He pulls my head closer to his, and just as we're about to touch lips, we are interrupted.

"District Seven: Wade Roxen."

**A/N: Hi! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated this story in almost a month! Been so darn busy! But now that it's summer break, updates will (hopefully) be almost every week. Reviews inspire me! If you want to help me out tremendously, you could review or PM me with ideas for mutts! I only have one mutt in mind so far, and it's not too good yet. If you do send in one, I'll give you a shout out! Who doesn't love a good shout out? haha.**

**Next chapter will be… I am kind of a spontaneous writer. If I turn my computer on, and go to my story, I will start and finish a chapter. So I only get my outbursts of creative juices (eww….what a weird metaphor *shudder*) when I am on. Which is at random times. But if I get seven reviews within two days, I will update on Tuesday. How does that sound? To make up for my lack of a chapter for almost a month! **

**Umm… Yeah. Don't have much else to say here. It's pretty late where I am. And I am tired. So I will go to bed now. Bye-Bye!**


	11. Private Session

Chapter 11:

Private Session

After Elise calls Wade's name, he stands up and takes my hand in his. I look up at him and see him smiling happily, as if he can't wait to be in a room alone with the creepy-ass Gamemakers. I smile at his happiness, his joy from being alive.

"Good luck," he whispers, his head tilted downward to me. "May the best tribute get the best score." He looks up and I see that he is wearing the cockiest smirk in the world.

"Well, if we're playing like that, we already know who's getting a better score," I reply, putting on the same cocky smirk.

"Arrogant, beautiful, clever, strong. You get all of those things, and me? Nothing. I just can't win, can I?" he says with fake despair.

"Oh, whatever!" I say, smiling.

"Wade Roxen!" Elise calls again, clearly angry. He smiles, blows a kiss to me, then walks down the hall, after Elise.

As he's walking down the hall, I realize he never told me what he was doing in the private session. Volumnia never did talk to us about what we would do in there. Come to think of it, I don't even know what I'm going to do in there. What am I good at? Throwing axes? Giving snarky remarks? Maybe I could use both of those things in the private session. Show them that I am fiery and fierce, but that I am also strong and talented. How would I show them that, though?

I knot my fingers together, twisting them nervously. I can't believe that I hadn't prepared for the training session. My palms grow sweaty, my head pounds anxiously. I guess my score doesn't matter that much, does it? I mean, the scores bring sponsors, but do I need sponsors? I can survive on my own, can't I? And if people support Wade, which I'm positive they will, they support me, right? I'll just throw my axes around a little, then leave when they ask.

I take in a deep breath to relax myself. I shouldn't be this worried about this. I bet Sagitarria was confident in her session. If she was, I can be too. I'll do fine, I assure myself. I wipe my sweaty hands on my polyester shorts. I'll do fine.

"Briar Wellwood!" Elise calls. My head snaps up, and I see Elise standing cross-armed in front of two large doors. I stand up immediately, and walk to where she is. She presses some keys on a keypad and the large doors slide open. Elise gestures for me to walk through the doors, so I do. The doors slide shut quickly, locking me in the room. I stand in confusion until the floor suddenly jerks under me. So the room is an elevator.

I wait in the elevator until the moving stops, and the metal doors slide open. I step out of the elevator, and into the private session room. It looks a lot like the Training Room, but everything is laid out directly in front of me, instead of spread out throughout the room. I slowly walk to the center of the room with all of the supplies for training. Kind of like the Cornucopia. I hear the clinking of glasses, and look up to see a room cut into the wall where all of the Gamemakers are sitting, feasting on rich foods and sweet drinks. How I despise their simple lives. Eating, drinking, laughing. They have no worries in life, no sadness. Everything comes easily to them. It's just disgusting.

As I walk in, a few of the people turn their heads towards me and their laughter and chitchat dies down. I can hear my name whispered among them. They must know Caine. Heck, he might even be up there with them.

"Your name?" one of them asks. I look directly at him, and recognize him to be Nyklus Goncalo, the head Gamemaker.

"I heard you saying my name up there. I'm not deaf," I say rudely. I don't care about my attitude. What are they going to do, kill me? If they do, my life would be a lot easier.

"I'm aware that you are not deaf, Briar. It says right here on your health record that you are in fine health, indeed. Anyway, I asked your name so that we could be on… friendlier terms. I see that you obviously do not do friendly with people you do not know," Nyklus says, peering down at me from his perch.

"No, I do not prefer to be on friendly terms with strangers. Especially sadistic people like you that enjoy seeing children suffer!" I shout, infuriated with him now. How could he want to be on "friendly" terms with me, when he knows how I will die?

"Me? A sadist? Oh, no. You are mistaken, my child. Now, you may begin to show us your talent. Unless you already have, and your talent is back-talking and retorting rudely. Which will not help you in the arena, dear," he says, sipping from his champagne glass. I exhale sharply, extremely annoyed with his calm attitude, but stride over to the weapons area. I find the axes section, and choose one at random. In District Seven, we do not have a choice of what kind of ax we use. Here, there are different kinds of axes, some with different grips, or varying blades, but some axes look exactly the same as the one adjacent to it.

I grip the ax tightly, and begin to walk to a target. I stop at the marked line on the floor that says that I am twenty feet from the target. Twenty feet is pushing it, as I am not sure that I can throw my ax that far. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath to relax myself. I will hit the target, I tell myself. I will hit it. I open my eyes and focus on the target. It is a life-size dummy with targets at the knees, wrists, the heart, the neck, and the head. All of the delicate spots on a human are marked with targets. I decide to aim for the heart. But if I were chasing the person, the heart would not be an option. The head would be, though. I will still go for the heart. I grip the ax tighter, not wanting to drop it.

I lift the ax from my side and bring it up in front of my face. I hold the ax out front, between my eyes, then pull it back until it is slightly tilted above my shoulder blade. I hold my left hand out in front of me to aim for the heart. Closing my right eye, I twitch my hand slightly, and tell my body that I'm ready. Then in a second of courage, I whip my right wrist out with as much power as I can muster, pull my left arm towards my chest, and let go of the ax. I let out the breath that I had been holding when I see the ax flying through the air. A second later, the ax is lodged firmly in the heart of the dummy. I smile, and turn around to grab another ax. This ax will go into the dummy's head.

With more confidence this time, I pull the ax back. I smile a little, and throw the ax using just as much power as I did last time. The ax flies through the air, and solidly lands in the neck of the dummy. Not where I was aiming, but the Gamemakers don't have to know that. The ax has lodged itself just slightly to the right of the neck target. Right where the major veins of the neck flow. That was perfect aim, without meaning to be. I keep smiling as I walk to grab the axes from the dummy. I return the axes to their spots, and pick up a sword. I hadn't used it during training, but I'd always wanted to use a sword.

My father had told me old stories of pirates and buccaneers and parrots and gold. He'd said that a long time ago, men would roam the seas in search of finding islands of riches and treasures. He'd said that the pirates would use swords. I'd always wanted to see one of those swords, one from a swashbuckler and not one from a sadistic and bloody tribute in the Hunger Games.

I grip the sword handle tightly, excited to finally have my hands on one of the things from my childhood dreams. I look up to see the Gamemakers, and find that they are crowded around the center table, heads tilted down in silent conversation. Most likely deciding my score.

Approaching the dummy, I take a deep breath and readjust my grip nervously. My score is probably pretty good at this point. I can't let this small mistake ruin the score. If I can't sever the head off of the dummy, my score will decrease dramatically, but if I do manage to do it, it could increase my score too. But the Gamemakers haven't kicked me out yet, and I don't know what I will do if I don't do the sword and they want to see more, so I decide on using the sword.

I regain the strength and power I had for my axes, and swing through with the sword in my hand. I listen and wait for the soft thud of the dummy's head on the ground. And I never hear it. I look up to see the sword pushed deeply into the dummy's neck, but the sword didn't go all the way through. I couldn't get the sword to go all the way through the neck, even through the artificial bone. I just blew my good score. Any chance I'd had of getting a good score was totally gone now. I can hear snorts and whispers from the Gamemakers' perch.

"And I thought she knew what she was doing…" one of the Gamemakers says, laughing a bit.

I did too. I thought I knew what I was doing, but apparently I hadn't.

"Are we unanimous?" Nyklus asks his group of Gamemakers. I see nods from where I'm standing. "Alright. I think we've seen enough here, Briar. Thank you for your time."

I grunt in reply and leave with no idea of what my score will be. And honestly, I really don't want to know what my score is.

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm really sorry about the month absence to this story. I started soccer and theatre camp three weeks ago, and that has made me really busy. I'm so, so sorry! To make up for it though, I will try to update again tomorrow night too. And I'll try from now on to update once a week every week if I get five reviews each week. That isn't too much to ask for, is it?**

**Anyway, I thought this chapter kind of sucked compared to my other chapters. I liked chapter 10 the most. It was fun to write Caine. Haha. But there wasn't enough Wade in this chapter. **

**Who do you think got the best score: Wade or Briar? Sagitarria or Beck? Whytt or Katri? Leave your answer in your review!**

**Also, I tried writing this chapter today (and roleplaying) while listening to film scores of various movies. It was really cool. It made the story feel way more epic. If you have a Pandora, you should make a Film Score station, and try writing and listening to it. Makes it feel like a movie scene. It's really cool!**

**Shout outs to:**

**Vampirevampirevampire: ****Thanks for urging me to update! You rock!**

**The Knife Throwing Expert: ****Thanks for supporting this story and also urging me to update. You're awesome!**

**Innocent Primrose Everdeen: ****Thanks for PMing and entertaining me when I am bored or not feeling creative.**

**And really, thanks to everyone who reads and reviews. (I know about those of you who don't review! You may say you don't but the traffic stats beg to differ!)**

**I believe that many Fanfictions suffer from a terrible syndrome. This disease is known as Unreviewedelepsy. Many Fanfiction stories have suffered from this disease, and never recovered. Some have even died from it. Please, donate to the new charity center: every review saves the life of a Fanfiction. **

**Please read and review! I want to know what you think!**

**I love all of you who have stayed with me for my extreme absence! Everyone who has read, reviewed, subscribed, and favorite has helped me become a better writer. Really, all of you have. You guys are amazing.**

**Well, I'm getting all sappy now, so I'm going to sign off. Goodnight and goodbye!**


	12. Kisses and Scores

Chapter 12:

Kisses and Scores

I stomp out of the Private Session. I'm hungry and frustrated. Not a good combination for me. I wait for the elevator to reach me, and when it does I hop right on. The elevator zooms up to the seventh level extremely fast. The doors slide open, and I step out, opening the door and walking into the living room of our apartment. Wade is sitting at the gold table in the middle of the room, eating something. I smile at the sight at him and come over to where he sits. I sit down next to him, and he looks up at me smiling. He's eating cherry pie again.

"I see you fell in love with the pie I have shown you!" I accuse. He grins sweetly, filling his fork with cherry pie and offering it to me. I roll my eyes, but take the bite. As always, it's amazing.

"I see you love it more than you love me!" he accuses right back. I smirk, and try to get up to sit on one of the purple couches, but his strong hands immediately find my waist. "Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast!" He quickly pulls me down onto his lap. "Thought you could get away so easily?" he whispers into my ear. I squirm to get away, but he holds on to me tighter than before. I flail my legs out, kicking the table and wincing.

"Damn," I mutter. He starts to kiss my neck softly, and it feels so good. I bring my arms up, and wrap them around his neck, so that my arms are above me, and he's looking down at me. He scoots me up, closer to his face, then kisses me on the lips. I kiss him back, turning myself around so that our bodies are facing each other. His hands travel up my back, ending up curled around my shoulder blades. I keep my hands on his neck, feeling comfortable there.

"Oh, goodness!" Volumnia squeals, and I hear the heavy door slam shut behind her. "We don't mean to interrupt your…fun, but the scores are going to come on any second here!" She opens the door wider, and I see Dill and Basil come one behind her. Dill has a dirty smirk on his lips, and Basil looks disgusted to be with him. She should.

"Are the Prep Teams coming, too?" I ask. I want to see Magnus, Luna, and Fauna again.

"Of course, silly!" Volumina says, opening the door even wider so that all of the Prep Team members can come in. I immediately recognize my people, and Wade's all flock to him. Fauna is the first to hug me.

"Oh, I heard Volumnia say you and Wade were having some 'fun'. What kind of fun would that be?" Fauna blurts out. I roll my eyes at her. Ever the gossiper is she, I suppose.

Luna comes up behind Fauna, gently shoving her to the side. Luna softly hugs me, pulling back to look at me. "I feel so about the Dill thing, Briar. I'm so sorry," she says, then pulls away. Magnus silently nods his head at and I nod back. He takes Luna's hand and guides her over to a gold love-seat.

"Okay, that was a sweet little meeting moment, but it's nearly time for the Score watching!" Volumnia squeaks. Today she is wearing a tight brown dress with swirly patterns all over it, a forest green feather scarf and a matching wig, sticking out all over the place. She looks like a tree. I can't believe that I didn't notice that earlier.

The rest of the Prep Teams are dressed up in white dresses or suits with black spirals all over them. The hems of their dresses or jackets are tipped with a crimson red. Their apparel is in honor of the tribute of the Twelfth Hunger Games named Valerina. She was the closest District Seven ever got to having a Victor. The Victor that year ended up being from District Eleven, though.

"You guys all look great," I hear Wade say to the Prep Teams. They all smile and nod politely. Wade finds me, and takes my hand. "Shall we?" he asks, motioning towards the couches. I nod, and kindly let him take me to the sofas.

Volumnia claps three times, and the gigantic television immediately lights up. The Capital symbol is filling the screen up, and the Capital theme song is playing proudly. The symbol fades from the screen, and we see Panem's most infamous television hosts sitting at a sparkling desk. The man that is more recognizable than the other is Cronin Flickerman. The man next to him at the desk is Griffin Rollo. Every year, Cronin dresses himself in a different color. This year he is in all black. Black hair, black lips, black suit, black everything. Even his irises are purely black, making him look like a creature from hell.

"He looks scary!" I say. Wade nods, agreeing with me.

"Hello, hello to everyone! Today we have your tributes scores from the private sessions! I hear that this year we have some very talented tributes, am I right, Griffin?" says Cronin, smiling a mouth full of strikingly bright white teeth.

"Very right indeed, Cronin! Now, without further adieu, the scores for the tributes of the Sixteenth Annual Hunger Games!" Griffin announces, bright purple wig bouncing up.

"Alright, as always, we will start off with District One and work our way up to District Twelve! Okay, we'll start with the ladies! From District One, we have Silver Edenthaw, with an impressive score of ten!" The screen flashes a picture of Silver in her training uniform and her score is featured under her picture. "And then we have Titus Keene with the same score as his partner: a ten! Okay, now we have Killani Darius with a score of… Well, look at this ladies and gentlemen, Killani Darius is the first ever tribute to score this high with a massive score of twelve! That is the absolute highest score one can receive! Congratulations, Killani!" Cronin says excitedly.

"Oh my! That's amazing!" Volumnia squeaks. Basil slaps her on the arm and motions to Wade and me. So much for team spirit with Volumnia. "Of course, you guys will do amazing too, I'm sure!"

"Nice save," I mutter. I see Wade smirk as Volumnia turns a bright color of red.

"And we have her district partner Crucis Herriot with a score of nine. Pretty good score, if you ask me!" Cronin says to Griffin. "Better than I could do! I'm sure I would get a three!" Griffin and Cronin chuckle with each other, and I'm becoming more anxious about my score. If I didn't do well, I won't get sponsors. And if I don't get sponsors, what will happen? I'll die of infection, or starvation, or dehydration.

"Now we have District Three! We start with Katri Aldjoy with a score of an eight! Wonderful job, Katri! And here is Whytt Overwhill with a score of five!" I sink down at the news of Whytt's score. Poor guy will be so humiliated. At least Katri got a great score, I remind myself. She did amazing.

Cronin says the District Four tributes have twin scores of ten like the District One duo. Which reminds me of Killani's score. A twelve? How in the hell did she score so high? What would you do to get a score so high? I sigh and shake my head. It isn't really important. It's just a number.

"I bet Sagitarria's going to score highly," Wade says. I nod. I hope she does so that the Career members won't get suspicious of her strength.

"And the District Five team with the highest ever summed up score! We have first Sagitarria Elphinstone with a score of eleven! Well done! And then there is Beck Atoms with a score of seven! Wonderful job, District Five!" Cronin says happily. Wade and I clap proudly for Sagitarria and Wade. They broke a record for their district: that's pretty good.

"Told you so," Wade says, a big smile on his face.

"When did I say she wouldn't?" I ask, punching him lightly on the shoulder. He smiles even wider, then outs his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. "You don't smell very good. Just sharing."

He looks down at me, closes his eyes and shakes his head. I smirk at him, but he just buries my face in his side. "Probably from all the working out I've been doing," he says, flexing his other arm. The arm that isn't trapping me into a sweaty teenage boy's armpit.

"Sure," I say sarcastically. "And I assume that you were working out to impress me, too? Right?"

"So smart you are, Briar!" he exclaims, lifting his arm from my face and letting me escape. I breathe in the fresh air dramatically. Wade grabs my shoulder and brings me to him. He plants a short kiss on my lips then shushes me.

"Shh, here are your scores!" the Prep Team members say from around the room. Volumnia walks up to the screen and taps it twice. Then she drags a tiny icon to the right, increasing the sound by quite a lot.

"And the District Seven tributes! First we have Briar Wellwood with a score of six, and Wade Roxen with a score of nine!" Cronin exclaims. My heart sinks. A six? I got a six? Damn, I shouldn't have used that sword. It screwed everything up.

"I'm sorry," Wade says kindly into my ear. I smile at his sweetness. Even when he knows I'm unhappy he tries to cheer me up. "They don't know how talented you are."

"Thanks, Wade. You did great," I reply. "I guess they know how talented _you_ are." He smiles, then leans in to me a kisses me. I kiss back, not caring about being in public, only happy to be with Wade.

"Alright!" Volumnia claps, breaking us apart soon after we started. "You two do that too much!"

"Chill out, woman," Dill steps in. "They're just horny teenagers. Let them kiss. You're just lucky they haven't gone further than this."

"Dill!" Basil says, utterly embarrassed by his words. Just as embarrassed as Wade and I are.

"Why don't we just return to watching the scores?" Fauna politely suggests.

"Thank you!" Wade and I exclaim in unison.

Cronin and Griffin continue to say the scores, the scores decreasing as the District number increased. Willow receives a four. I make a mental note to comfort her tomorrow.

"Okay, time for a big District Seven dinner!" Volumnia says, gesturing for us to sit at the gigantic dining dinner table. We all stumble over there and begin to eat dinner. It's full of the usual rich foods: vegetables and meats and desserts, fizzy drinks and wines and juices. It's all delicious.

We all make small talk. The Prep Team people and Volumnia all dance around the subject of our scores. They know that if it is something I am sore about, I will attack them with my words. I'm sure they'll be talking about our scores when Wade and I wander off to our beds.

When I'm full, I push back from the table, grab my plate, and stand to put it into the dish-disposal system that I've seen the Avoxes use so many times before.

"Briar, sweet, you don't have to out that away: we have Avoxes to do that for you!" Volumnia says, pointing to the young girl standing in the corner, hands clasping one another. She sees she's being spoken about, then rushes to where I am to take me plate.

"It's fine. I think they should have a break every now and then," I say kindly, walking over to the disposal. I set the plate down in it, then return to the table. I see the girl return to her corner, a look of thanks in her sad eyes. I feel so bad for her. I wish I could set her free. I wish I could return her tongue to her. I wish these things so deeply that it hurts.

Wade gets up too, and walks over to the disposal like I did. "I agree with Briar," he says, returning to the table and taking hold of my hand.

"Well," I say, "I think Wade and I are going to go to my room and 'be horny teenagers'. Goodnight."

I hear some snickers and some sounds of disgust. I smirk, and follow Wade down the hall to my room.

**A/N: Hello! I updated! Woohoo. This chapter wasn't that boring to write because it wasn't massively long. Like some chapters previous *cough* Chapter six *cough*. Anyway, expect another chapter tomorrow afternoon/evening, very, very late tonight, or on Tuesday. Next chapter is the interviews! Can't wait to start writing that! **

**Once again, sorry for the absence. I promise I'm trying to update more consistently. And I kind of have, right? This one came a bit less than a month after the last!**

**Oh, and did anyone else buy The Hunger Games DVD yesterday? Since yesterday, I have watched it three times! Yay! It's even better the fifth time watching it! (I saw it twice in theaters!)**

**Okay, I'm getting weird, so I think I'm going to sign off now. Don't forget to read and review! Thanks, I love you all!**


	13. Interview Preparations

Chapter 13:

Interviews Preparation

Wade closes the door behind us and we sit down on the bed. I lay down on my back, stretching my arms out. I just want to sleep this day off. My score was horrible, and I was hit on and nearly bought by some creepy Capitol guy. I shudder at the thought of Caine. He was so disgusting.

"I'm really tired," I say, yawning after announcing this.

"Yeah, me too," Wade says quietly. He lies back too, so now we're both looking up at the ceiling. "Oh, and Briar?"

"Yeah, Wade?"

"What did you do in the private session?"

"I screwed up, that's what I did," I say with a sigh. I bury my face in my hands. "I'm not going to get any sponsors now, Wade."

"I know we can get sponsors, Briar. We're going to work together," he says sweetly, pulling my hands from my face to taking them gently into his.

"But earlier you said that-"

"I don't care about what I said. We're going to stick together, no matter what happens. I'll always be here for you." His glittering green eyes are filled with love and respect. They give me some hope for the dismal future ahead of us.

"Promise?" I say, ruining my tough façade.

"I promise, Briar."

"Good," I mumble sleepily before falling asleep, sprawled out across the bed.

"Good morning!" I hear Volumnia say cheerily. I force my eyes open and see Volumnia standing over me. Today she is wearing bright pink lip stick, accompanied with a pale pink wig. Her skin is still yellowish, giving her the appearance of a sickly person. She has on a puffy pink skirt and a dark purple blouse with oversized sleeves.

"Mnrgh…" I murmur. She smiles politely, and pulls the bedspread off of me. I shiver in the cold air, and am suddenly reminded of the cold air I felt on the Reaping morning. Oh, how I miss Grandmama and Mother so much right now.

"You need to get up! This evening you have your interviews, and, Briar, you need to work on your manners!" Volumnia wrenches open the closet door and searches for something for me to wear. She finally decides on a tight red shirt that is one shouldered and some tight black pants. Volumnia then folds the clothing up and places it on my desk. "You have to get dressed. Now, Briar!"

I stumble up out of bed, and realize that I'm still wearing my training outfit. And it's uncomfortably tight. Not caring if Volumnia sees me, I slip out of the tight training outfit that I will never see again. I throw it into a corner and grab the new pile of clothing. I put them on, brush my hair out a little bit, and follow Volumnia out into the dining room.

"Oh, your hair looks good like that!" Volumnia says as we sit down to breakfast. "It's all curly!"

"Yeah, it's naturally like that," I say, reaching for the pomegranate.

Wade walks into the room and sits down next to me. "Morning," he says to Volumnia and me.

"Alright, now I have a pleasant surprise for you two!" Volumnia says excitedly, grabbing a small croissant and tearing it in half. "You two get to have your interview together!" She smiles the largest smile I've ever seen. And I see Wade grinning too.

"That's great," Wade says kindly.

"How did you get them to do that?" I ask, shocked. Why would she do that? Why would she want our interviews to be together? I mean, not that I care, but I just find it strange that she would request this.

"Well, President Julius Snow saw the vile images that Dill posted, and agreed that this was the least we could do to apologize to you two for his vulgar behavior. I hope you two don't mind," she says.

"I don't mind at all," Wade says, reaching for my hand. He looks to me to see my consent.

"I don't either," I reply sweetly. Because honestly, I don't mind. I want to be with him as much as possible before I die.

"Okay, so, we'll prepare you two together! Since you have no mentor, you will work on etiquette with me, and angles with your stylists. Any questions?" Volumnia says.

"You are not going to make me go into a room with that pervert, are you?" I say in disbelief. I can't even stand to be in the same room as him.

"I apologize, Briar, but it will only be for a short period of time," Volumnia says. She has an apologetic look on her face, so I believe that she is sorry. Either that, or she is just a very good actress.

"Fine. I'm only doing it because I have to." I spoon some more rich food onto my plate and finish my breakfast.

"I think we'll start you two out with your stylists, and then after you have your angles decided, you will come meet with me and we'll go over the basics!" Volumnia claps her hand together gleefully, then dismisses us to our stylists.

"Try not to bite his head off, Briar," Wade teases as we leave the room. We walk down the hallway and split into different directions.

"We'll see about that," I reply as I open the door to the room where Dill sits on a plush chair, tapping his chin in thought.

"Briar!" he says, jumping up to hug me.

I put my hand up to stop him. "That's as close as you're going to get, Dill. When you have to fit me, I'm going to let the Prep Team do it."

"You're just bluffing," he says, smiling wickedly. "You know about that picture-"

"No. I don't want to hear it. I came in here because I had to. I'm not going to just chat with you about some disgusting and perverted thing you did. Thank you very much," I say, crossing to the other side of the room. I go to the large window and look out of it. There is still snow all over the ground and it is still falling from the sky. I have to admit, with all of the colorful and shining signs, the snow looks beautiful.

"Okay. Fine. Now, I already know your angle for the interview. You've shown it already," Dill announces, returning to his velvety seat. "Sarcastic, mean, witty. And I have an idea of what you can wear, too."

"Wonderful," I spit out. I stare out at the snow, wishing I was falling like the small flakes. They are free. I am not, and I desperately want to be.

"What is your obsession with the snow?" Dill says.

"Tell me how I need to act on stage," I say, changing the subject. The truth about the snow thing is that Violet loved it when it snowed. We would always play outside in the snow, even though we would come back inside sopping wet. Our father would build a fire and we would sit in front of the fire and warm our hands up. We would pretend that life was happy for once. This was when we were young and carefree. Before death and depression seeped into our family, poisoning all of our hearts for good. I think of my father and baby sister, and a tear slides down my cheek.

"Well, you'll need to be yourself on stage. I can tell that you can be weak," Dill starts. I furiously rub at my cheek, angry that he saw the tears. "But I also know that you could kick my ass into next week, so obviously you're not some prissy little girl. You need to be strong in reaction to some subjects, and weak to others. We want to show to the people that you are human."

"You may be a nasty man, but you are damn clever," I say, shaking my head. He has the perfect idea, I must admit. And I'm sure Cronin will start off kind and innocent in the interview, and will then sneak into touchier subjects. I've seen him do that to many tributes before.

"Very right, very right," he says.

For the rest of our two hour meeting, we go over possible interview subjects. Some on predictions about the arena, some on the scandals, some on death, some on back home. When I leave the room, I feel pretty confident about my interview.

"How was it, Briar?" Volumnia says, still looking down at her magazine. How she knew it was me, I have no clue.

"It was fine. Not as awful as I'd expected," I reply. Some ridiculous music in some language I don't know is playing.

"Good to hear! Now Wade is going to be here any second. Did you and Dill decide on what your angle is going to be?" She takes a sip from a dainty champagne glass.

"Yes, we did. And I'm sure you can guess what it is," I grumble, coming to sit down next to her at the now cleared off table.

"Sarcastic? You plan on being yourself, don't you?" she says blandly, still reading the magazine.

"I never was the best actress," I say dryly. The door opens again, and Wade steps in.

"Goody, now you're both here!" Volumnia says, finally looking up from her magazine. "Okay, Wade, what was your angle?"

"I'm going to be supportive and protective of Briar," Wade says, smiling at me. I don't need a protector, but the effort is sweet. And it will make a good looking couple.

"Oh, how sweet! This will be perfect!" Volumnia says happily. She gets up from her seat at the table and makes her way over to a gold divan. She sits carefully in the middle of it, then motions for Wade and I to sit across from her in the purple couch. Wade comes forward, takes my hand, and leads me to the couch.

"Etiquette is formed from politeness, Volumnia, and we all know that politeness is not my strong suit," I say as soon as we sit down.

"I know, so you we don't have to worry about. If you're being yourself, there's no point in trying to change the fact that you have as much politeness in you as a door knob does." She squirms in her seat a little, looks around the room, and leans forward. "Briar, it is imperative that you listen to me right now: you have to watch your mouth. The people in charge do not like being defied. If you say something that could possibly offend anyone here in the Capitol, you have to cover it up. They could punish you, your allies, or your family in innumerable ways if you do the tiniest thing to offend them. Do you understand me?"

I nod my head. It's good to see the defiant and intelligent side of her again. She puts up a good façade of being stupid and naïve.

"I understand," I say. She smiles, clearly relaxed.

"Good. That's good," Volumnia says. "Wade, how do you feel about your interview?"

"I feel pretty confident about it. I know what I need to get across: the determined protector, who will stop at nothing to protect his lover. Not quite ruthless, but not a total pile of softy. I can go with the flow pretty well. I feel prepared for what Cronin might say," Wade says. It feels so good to have someone trying to keep me safe. Nobody back in Seven would have risked their life for me. Except Violet, but she is gone. And I wouldn't have risked my life for anyone but her too. But now, things have changed. I have someone that loves me, cares for me. And I will do what I have to in order to keep him alive. If it means that I give my life for him, so be it.

**A/N: Holy crap! I updated pretty darn quickly this time, didn't I? Oh yeah! Anyway, this chapter was sort of a filler, to set up for the Interviews! If anyone has an idea for a person's interview outfit (Career or Alliance Member) leave it in the review, and I'll give you a shout-out in the next chapter for helping me out! Please, do leave an outfit idea in a review! **

**Definitely not my longest chapter, but at least I got it up, right? **

**Reviews are greatly appreciated! Long reviews are even more greatly appreciated! So please leave one!**

**Not much else to say, other than review. And I guess that next chapter will be tomorrow at the earliest! Yay! Read and review! Favorite and subscribe! I love you all!**


	14. The Prep Team's Work

Chapter 14:

The Prep Team's Work

Volumnia looks down at her diamond encrusted watch and squeals. "Goodness, it's time to get you two to the stylists! Come, come!" She jumps up from her seat and motions for us to follow. Wade and I walk out of the room behind her, smirking about the way she wobbles in her ridiculous high heels.

"Great, it's time to get scrubbed down to my last layer of skin," I mumble. Wade smiles.

"It gives you a healthy glow," he retorts. I roll my eyes at him.

"You know which rooms to go to, right?" Volumnia asks, looking down at her piece of glass. Which I suppose isn't really _just_ a piece of glass, but that's what it looks like.

Wade and I nod and open the door. We walk into the long room that we entered on our first day in here in the _glorious_ Capitol. There are two rows of cold metal "beds" where tributes are lying, surrounded by their Prep Team. Wade goes to the boy's row and I go to the girl's. As I walk down to the seventh spot, I hear ripping sounds followed by yelps of pain. Great.

I see Fauna, Luna, and Magnus waiting around a table, all cleaning their torture utensils or polishing their goos and liquids. Luna looks up and sees me. Let the pain begin.

"Briar! You know the drill, right?" she says, pulling the curtain around our little area so that no one can look in.

I nod wearily. I was extremely uncomfortable about this the first time, and I'm sure it is going to be no different now. I squirm awkwardly out of the tight pants, pull off my shirt, and take a deep and uncomfortable breath. I'm in my undergarments now, and I would prefer to stay this way, but I know that they will come off one way or another. I hesitate, but then pull the tank top off, the bra off, and finally my underwear.

"There you go!" Luna says. "Now lie on down here." She pats the table and I reluctantly get onto it. The team washes their hands and all put on a pair of colorful gloves. Luna's are bright pink with sparkled swirls. Fauna's are navy with dark green stripes and Magnus' are red. And their gloves match their outfits, I notice. Typical Capitol people, with all of their matching flashy garments.

"Dear Lord, you are hairy!" Luna exclaims. "Get the wax, Magnus. A lot of it, too!" Magnus turns around and grabs a bowl with a stirring spoon in it. He hands it to Fauna and she then begins to methodically pour it all over my skin. The wax is hot, but feels nice compared to the cold metal beneath me. Fauna pours the last of it on my toes, then hands the bowl back to Magnus. Luna returns to the table with strips of paper in each hand. Oh man, this is part that hurts the most.

"I feel so bad that we have to do this to you, but seeing how hairy you are, it's worth it," Fauna says kindly. It's hair: I can't see what the issue with it is! Hair is natural, there's no point in trying to get rid of it.

Luna lays the strips down in all of the places of the wax. She presses down on the first strip for a second, then rips it up without a moment of hesitation. A pained cry escapes my lips. Damn, I forgot how much this waxing stuff hurts.

She goes on to do that with every square inch of my body except for my actual head of hair. She even waxes the tiny amount of hair on my forehead, cheeks, ears. Everywhere. My skin is shining under the fluorescent light, but it is also severely sore and very red.

"Okay, that is the hard part and now it's over. We're going to go from most painful procedure, to least. So, next is plucking of the eyebrows!" Fauna says excitedly. Magnus hands her a pair of tweezers and she comes closer to my face. The tweezers are cold on my skin as they grab the poor little hairs toward the end of the eyebrow. She yanks up, ripping hair out of my face. "We don't want to rid you of eyebrows, we just want to shape them!" Fauna says, pulling more hair out. My eyebrow is stinging now, it feels like it's on fire. And knowing the Gamemakers, it might just be literally on fire next week. I grip the sides of the table in pain.

"I'm using all of my will to not punch you right now," I say to them. The group just chuckles and continues to clean their instruments of evil.

Fauna does the same to my other eyebrow, and finally that pain is over. But I know it will start up again soon.

"Okay, we are done with the hair parts, now we're scrubbing you down to rid you of grime," Magnus says. That is probably the most words I have ever heard him speak at once. I nod.

The table starts to slide down, and towards my feet I see a metal bucket. Magnus reaches under the table and grabs a hose. He turns it on and begins to douse me in warm water. This is a relief from the other things that were being done. Fauna and Luna come over with strange stone looking things in each hand. If they plan on scrubbing me with _those_ things, there's an issue.

"This will probably hurt," Luna says.

"Great," I grunt, fingers digging deeper into the hard and cold metal.

Magnus sprays me with a little more water pressure. It feels pretty good until Fauna and Luna attack me with their stones. They roughly scrub at the skin all over my body.

They take about five minutes to do that, and then they have to wash the skin off their rocks. I feel awful. My skin stings and I sort of have to go to the bathroom.

"Okay, you've been waxed, scrubbed, and plucked. What's next?" Fauna asks.

"Lotions then a haircut," Luna says, grabbing three shiny bottles with large yellow warning panels along the sides.

"Umm, guys, why are there _warning_ panels on those bottles?" I ask worriedly.

"Oh, this?" Luna says, pointing to the yellow label on the side. "It's just warning about the chemicals in it. It's no big deal. We use products with much more chemicals than this one!"

"What exactly do the chemicals do?" I ask as they rub the lotion in their hands.

"Well, since you obviously grow hair very quickly, we are giving you some solution to stop the hair from growing for a while," Luna says. She begins to slowly and thoroughly rub the lotion on my legs and arms. It numbs by arms and legs and I begin to worry. And then it starts to sting, and I begin to worry even more.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you it will sting. But it will, so don't worry! Goodness, Briar, you looked like you were about to lay an egg!" Luna exclaims, washing her gloves off under a sink.

I wipe my face of fear. "It's humanly impossible to lay an egg!" I retort.

"You always have a reply, don't you?" Magnus says, smirking.

"I sure as hell do," I say, grinning. He's my favorite Prep Team member. Quiet, but funny.

The stinging has stopped now, thank God, and they rinsing me down again, but this time they aren't scrubbing me to the bone. Then, Fauna brings the water up to my scalp and washes my hair through. She pumps some liquid-gel stuff from a bottle and massages it into my hair. She scrunches the hair up, then washes through it. Fauna repeats this several times until my scalp is raw.

"Alright, now your hair is all clean!" Luna says. "We just need to trim it up, since we love the length of it. Magnus, scissors!" Magnus hands Luna a pair of silver scissors and she begins to snip lightly away at the tips of my hair. The she cuts my bangs a little more side-swept and trims them up a little.

"Okay, we're almost done, Briar!" Fauna says. "We just need to rinse you again and apply some more lotion solutions."

And they do just that: I'm washed down some more and some lotion is rubbed gently all over my body. I actually feel good now. Clean, refreshed, and glowing. I put on the hideous gown that the Prep Team offers me.

"Thanks guys. I hate to admit it, but I feel great after that mini torture session," I say with a smirk. They all smile and tell me I look great.

"The real torture is with Dill," Magnus says. I nod, then leave the curtained off area. I walk down past the District Twelve girl's area. There is a long window running from the District One area to the District Twelve area, and I see that it's still snowing. The sky is still gray and dark, even though it's well past noon.

I approach the door that leads into the hallway. I open the door and go to the seventh door to the right. Dill's room. Great.

**A/N: Okay, this chapter was pretty short. I apologize about that, but I'm trying to update as often as possible, and I think I'm doing pretty well! My last update was yesterday, right? So this is really good!**

**Thanks for reviewing the last chapter! I decided that I have a goal for this story: I want this story to get 100 reviews! And we're more than half way there at 61 reviews! Read and review, I beg of you! There are WAY more views than there are reviews, so please, if you are reading this story, review it!**

**Oh, and to ****Sakruafan12:**__**if you are following and favoriting, please review! Reviews make me happy!**

**Guys, I need more Interview outfit ideas, I currently only have one. Thanks Prim for sending it! ;) Really, if you forget it in your review, PM me with you idea! I know what Briar and Wade are wearing, but tell me about what you want a Career to wear, or what Beck and Sagitarria! Please!**

**So, I injured my hip at soccer yesterday, so now I am able to update way more often since I get to be home and writing! Oh yeah!**

**I think that's all for now, folks! Next update will be Saturday probably, maybe tomorrow. Or if I get enough reviews, it will be tonight. We'll just see. **

**Please read and review, subscribe and favorite! Those of you who have only favorited or subscribed, please review! It will help me reach my goal! Thank you! Oh yeah, and some of you have promised that you will review when you have time. Thanks for promising! Don't forget: I will hold you to it! I don't forget things easily. **

**Okay, I'm done here now. For real, this time! PM me with questions or ideas, and review! Thanks, I love you all! Bye.**


	15. Dill's Sob Story and The Interview Dress

Chapter 15:

Dill's Sob Story and The Interview Dress

"Welcome, Briar!" Dill says as I open the door.

"I'm not here to exchange fake pleasantries with you," I grumble. I don't want him to end up telling me what to do, so I take off the flimsy gown and lay down on the table.

"Oh, I never thought I would see a girl strip _willingly_ for me!" Dill kids. At least I hope he's kidding. If he meant that, we would have an issue. "Okay, okay, I was kidding! Briar, there's no point in you laying down there!"

"Why?" I snap, sitting up, covering my chest with my crossed arms.

"You're going to be standing up when I dress you!" he says. I stand up, and he puts a small stool in the middle of the room. He presses two buttons, and the metal bed slides up into the wall. Then a rack with fabrics and buttons and needle and yarns and so many other accessories pops out from the wall. Dill leaves the rack and begins to circle me. "Looks like they did a pretty fine job on you. And your 'flawless' skin is glowing! I'm sure they rubbed radiance cream up and down you. Your skin's going to ache like hell tomorrow, Briar, if you don't shower tonight. Make sure you do," Dill instructs me. Huh. He's actually trying to help me.

"Dill, why did you take that picture?" I blurt out. If he's trying to help me now, why would he have done such an awful thing? So, of course, my curiosity got the best of me and I blurted out my thoughts.

Dill stops circling me and avoids my eyes. He takes a deep breath and finally looks straight at me. He takes in a deep breath, then says, "My sister spent all of our family's money. My mother is terminally ill, and we don't have the money to try to cure her."

I freeze for a moment, something tightening in my chest. Is it… Sympathy? "Sob story, yeah. But how does that have anything to do with the picture you took?" I say, not letting down my witty shield.

"Well, I try to get money for Mother, but the doctors and nurses turn us down because I'm homosexual." I see tears in Dill's eyes. I feel so bad for him. "And the terrible part is that they don't give us the cure because I'm gay. And it's not even me who needs it! They refuse to give it to us because she's related to me." By now Dill is crying. I feel like I'm going to cry too. The poor guy. "So I'm desperate to get her money because Rayneshadow, my sister, refuses to help us out. And here, if you post a scandalous picture, you can get money for the amount of views. And, naturally, since you two are tributes and the Games are a hot topic here, the picture got many views. So I got the money for putting up the picture of you guys. I'm really, really sorry, Briar." He finishes crying. There are orange and blue stripes on his face from his tears and makeup mixing.

I feel so bad for him. To be ridiculed for something so ridiculous. I can't believe that the officials dismissed his plea for money. It disgusts me that someone would do that. "It's okay, Dill," I say in an attempt to console him. "I would hug you if I weren't bare naked. And you could have told me this before and I would have understood. I should apologize about being such an ignorant ass to you about it earlier." I weakly smile, trying still to make him feel better. He snorts a little, then drags his golden and wide sleeve across his face to wipe the tears. He looks so innocent and young. Like a little kid.

"Okay, Briar, let's get you dressed up," Dill says, drying his face off some more and turning to the cloth rack. "So, for your interview dress, we want to stay true to your name and angle. Sweet and tough. A briar is a beautiful pink flower with a thorny stem. The flower is the kind and sweet side of you and the thorns are the tough, dangerous side of you. I really want you to convey _both_ sides, Briar." Dill turns around with a roll of emerald green fabric in one hand and a roll of gauzy transparent material in the other. He presses a button on the floor with his foot and a small table appears by my side. He sets the fabrics down, turns around, and returns to the rack. "Almost forgot the muslin!" I don't even ask what muslin is. The information is never going to help me in the arena, so I don't waste my breath on useless questions.

Dill comes back to me with some fabric that is the same color as my skin and begins to drape it around my body. The fabric is soft and stretchy on my skin. It's good, because I hate feeling restricted in my clothes. He pins and cuts the fabric, shaping it to my body. When he's done, I look into the mirror in front of me and see myself in a tight dress that goes to my knees. It's one shouldered and is the exact same shade as my skin.

"That's the bottom layer. Now is the real dress!" Dill says, clapping his hands together. He grabs the roll of green fabric and begins to wrap it around my body at different angles. Occasionally he looks down at a piece of paper in his hand and adjusts the temporary needles he has that are holding the fabric into the shape of the dress. Once he has the pins in the perfect spots, he pulls them out and begins to sew the material together, creating the dress. I can feel the bodice is tighter than the skirt, but it's not way too tight. I know I should be worried about the fact that he's sewing so close to my body, but I trust him now. And if he does puncture my skin, I realize that'll just be a pain warm up compared to what I will no doubt experience in the arena.

"Okay, we have the base done," Dill says, allowing me to look into the mirror. The dress is really pretty. The green fabric perfectly covers the skin colored fabric. The bodice is tight and is only one-shouldered. It looks simple and elegant. The skirt begins just under my ribs, making it high-waisted. The skirted part is loose and flows around my knees gracefully. It stops just before the knees, showing off my lower legs. Like Dill said for my Chariot Ride, I remember with a smirk.

"This is really beautiful, Dill. I look amazing," I say in awe. Beautiful and simple.

"It's not quite done yet," he says happily, turning back to the rack. He grabs something more, then returns to me. He still has the gauzy material in one hand, and some pink flowers in the other.

"Flowers?" I ask. "You're going to put flowers on me?"

"Well, these are faux briar roses. But we also have faux briar thorns beneath the flowers. Staying true to your name. I really want to get it across that you're tough and sarcastic, but also, like any other human being, you have a heart."

"I think you're overestimating the Gamemakers," I mumble. Dill chuckles as he begins to drape the whitish fabric over my shoulders and bodice. It's surprisingly soft against my newly clean skin. He pins and sews the fabric into place, and steps to the side again to let me see what I look like now. The new material is pleated and folded to have an interesting texture and it hugs the dress on the bodice, and is loose and flowing on my shoulders. The light material creates elegant sleeves that loosely flow to my elbows then gather just below.

"What do you think?" Dill asks. I smile. He is a genius. The dress is gorgeous and I know that he's not even finished yet.

"I think that you have managed to make me look beautiful. And I always thought that that was impossible," I say with a smirk. I know that I'm not ugly, but I don't want to sound ungrateful.

"Oh now, Briar. You and I both know that you're a very beautiful young woman. Personally, I despise people that say that they're ugly when they know that they aren't. It always seems as if they are just fishing for shallow compliments," Dill says, his sewing glasses slipping down his nose.

"How do I reply to such an intelligent comment?" I say, grinning. He rolls his eyes at me, and begins to sew the fake flowers and thorns onto the dark green dress that I'm wearing. The needle pricks my skin more than one time, but the pain is nothing. He continues to sew the flowers and vines on.

"And here we have the finished product!" Dill exclaims, clapping his hands together and stepping to the side for the final time. The small white flowers are bright and hopeful against the brown and black thorns and the dark green material. They are sewn onto the brown vines that wrap along the dress. I can see that the thorns are made to be prominent because they are usually underestimated. I look amazing.

I look soft.

I look tough.

I am a briar.

I am Briar.

**A/N: Oi, guys! I'm so, so, so sorry that this chapter took so long! I'm going to try to update again today, but it might have to be Tuesday. I've just been swamped with sports and school work and friends and my computer had a virus and this is turning into a run-on sentence and I'm sorry. Again. **

**So, I've been on a reading frenzy, and I was sick on Wednesday so I missed school. And I spent the whole day reading **_**The Fault in Our Stars**_** by John Green and **_**Shatter Me**_** by Taherah Mafi. Both are awesome books, but nothing compares to **_**The Fault in Our Stars.**_** Never in my life have I cried so much as I did while reading that book. If you haven't read that book, you have to. Seriously.**

**Thanks to ****Innocent Primrose Everdeen ****for sending in Winnow's Interview outfit, ****DivergentInsurgent**** for sending in Silver 's Interview outfit, ****The Knife Throwing Expert**** for sending in Killan's Interview outfit, and to ****Dancingchocolatesmudge**** for sending in Briar's outfit! You guys rock!**

**I don't have any more excuses and really nothing else to say.**

**Please, read and review! It means so much to me. Tell me if you like Dill's story! Let me know what you think of Briar's dress, and give me ideas for other character's Interviews!**

**(I'm not gonna lie: I don't really have a great arena idea yet. SO if you'd like to be my best friend on this site, please give me an idea through review or PM!)**

**All right, I think that's all I've got to say. So bye!**


	16. The Interviews Part One: Kill's a Bitch

Chapter 16:

The First Part of Interviews: Kill's a Bitch

Wade and I are waiting backstage right now. I'm just now starting to become nervous. What if I speak wrongly? What if I offend the Capitol? What if they kill those who are close to me? Grandmama, or Melissa, or even Mother. I start to feel the worry and pessimism sink in.

"Briar? What's wrong?" Wade asks with concern. My eyes travel up his chest to his kind face. His hair is curly and wild, contrasting with the safe and calm feeling of his crisp white shirt, which, I notice with a smile, is unbuttoned at the top. He has on black slacks, and looks completely boring compared to my metaphorical dress.

"I'm just… I guess I'm nervous," I say, pulling my attention from his face.

"Briar, you're an amazing young woman, and very clever, so in the case that you misspeak, you will easily be able to cover it up. I have faith in you." Wade brings his hand up to my hair, and runs his fingers up and down the plaited braid that goes from the center of my scalp down to the nape of my neck. The rest of my hair has been curled and pushed to flow over one shoulder.

I smile and then hear the opening music for Cronin Flickerman's 'Interview Sessions With the Tributes'. He smiles widely to the cameras and does ridiculous poses, gathering applause from every corner of the audience. He even gets a small chuckle from Wade, who has his arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"You're so easily entertained," I say up to him with a grin.

"It's easy to be entertained when you're around," he replies, planting a kiss on my forehead.

"What's with all of the sappiness?" I ask, grinning even wider.

His smile is erased.

"Wade," I say, turning to face him. He looks so sad suddenly.

"I'm trying to enjoy our last moments together," he says quietly. "Is there something wrong with not always being mean and sarcastic, Briar? Is there something wrong with showing my absolute love for you?" He looks so hurt.

"No," I reply simply. I'm stunned wordless. Why did he just turn this on me? "I never said there was something wrong with-"

"You seem ashamed to show affection. Like you wouldn't want me to… Like you wouldn't want me to love you," he says coldly.

"How could you turn this on me?" I yell. Suddenly I am infuriated at him. "How the hell can you be so calm and nice, and then, at the sound of a few stupid words, you get all cold and cruel? And what on Earth makes you think that I wouldn't want you to love me?"

"You always say that you don't want to be all mushy and lovely to me. Did you ever consider what I wanted? What if I wanted to be like that? What if I wanted everyone to know that I was madly in love with Briar Wellwood? But no, I'm just the background guy. The boyfriend of 'that poor girl with the dead sister'." He brought up Violet. He knows not to do that. The second he says it, he looks as if he wants to take it right back. But he can't.

"Wait, Briar-" He tries to apologize, but it's too late. I'm already pushing him back, into the television where I see Silver twirling around just before Wade's head smashes into it. I didn't push him hard enough to crack the screen, but he did hit it pretty hard, so there's this part on the television where he hit it that is discolored and morphed. He stumbles forward, looking so incredibly hurt that I almost want to cry. Wade brings his hands behind his head to feel for injury.

"Wade, I'm sorry," I say. Wow. Never thought I'd say those words. I'm still mad at him for turning on me so quickly and bringing Violet up, but I never meant to hurt him badly.

"Pretty gnarly bump you gave me," Wade says, a hint of a smile on his lips. But then he erases it and turns away from me to face to television.

Peacekeepers are rushing in to examine Wade's 'wounded' head. A few begin to question me, but I don't give them any answers. I turn my eyes to the wall with the morphed screen. Silver and Cronin are sitting adjacent to each other. She is smiling and Cronin is laughing.

Silver has on a floor length gown that is golden. She looks like a Grecian goddess from the ancient textbooks our teachers shoved in front of us. There are golden cuffs at her wrists with white fabric that connects to the invisible straps on her shoulders. I can see something sparkling near where her prominent ribs are. It looks like diamonds all clustered together in a design. She looks like a poster girl for the Luxury District. She also wears a golden tiara on her perfect blonde head. She looks innocent and sweet, but I know different.

"Thanks, Cronin!" she says happily. "You like good too!"

"You think? Ladies and gentlemen, our time with the lovely Silver is up. But what do you think: should we call her Goldie from now on?" Cronin asks the audience. They go crazy, whistling and screaming. Silver stands from her chair, blows kisses to everyone, then gracefully exits the stage. I hear her enter and say something like, "Jesus, that old man is a perv. He was totally looking me up and down" to Killani. I can't see them, but I can hear them from where I am. Silver's partner is up next. He goes for the brute, with a storm gray t-shirt on to show off his biceps, and some black jeans. He runs his gigantic hand through his jet-black hair, shoots his smile to some ladies in the audience and visibly charms their freaking pants off. Some women…

He talks rarely, but when he does, he has a low and husky voice. He speaks about his plans for the arena. To stay true to his Career pack and so on. What a big dumb guy. If he was smart, he could have just killed the whole crew of them at night with his strength. But Skene and Sagitarria are going to go through with that plan. The thought of us lower district underdogs beating the Careers is so comically hopeful it makes me laugh. Wade turns his head to me, and when I look toward him, he turns his head away quickly. He's acting like a middle-grade kid. It's ridiculous.

Next up is Killani's interview. The guy leaves the stage, and then Cronin introduces Killani. "And now we have Killani Darius!" The crowd goes absolutely mad when they see her. And I almost shit my pants when I see her.

She looks absolutely insane. She is wearing a floor length white gown that flows out at the bottom. It looks cute and innocent at first glance. But then, if you look closer, you realize with horror that the dress is not white. The top is white, sure, but the bottom of the dress is horrifying: it is drenched in blood, and above the absolute red is splattered blood, as if she stood in the puddle of the blood, then stabbed them once again and sprayed the blood more on herself. The bodice is very low cut, and reveals her cleavage to everyone. Men whistle and holler to her, and she evilly smirks to them.

She looks insane.

She looks dangerous.

Her dark hair is curled into perfect spirals and the strands closest to her face have been pulled back with a dagger shaped barrette. And the most bizarre thing about her outfit is what's actually in her hair. It looks as if her head were exploding, with black metal rods sticking out from her hair. And if you look closely enough, you can see that they're tiny daggers.

"So, Killani, there's been quite some talk about that amazing score you received on your private session! A _twelve! _This has never before been seen, and we all would like to know how you got it!" Cronin says conversationally. "Without giving away everything, of course!" he adds, looking at the cameras before him and winking.

"Well, Cronin, let's just say that I, uh, pulled some strings with the Gamemakers, and they won't soon be forgetting me," Killani says, bringing her hand up to her dipping v-neck. The cameras go to a young Gamemaker who is blushing profusely.

"You aren't suggesting that you… That you had an affair with the Gamemakers, are you?" Cronin says in shock. The audience gasps and I can hear some whistles.

"I might be, but I may also be suggesting that I impressed them so much with my- Oh dear, I almost forgot that we aren't to reveal what our Private Sessions consisted of. I'll just let you know that my weapon is…incorporated into my dress tonight." She says this all in a very seductive manner. I roll my eyes at her. What a slut.

She puts her elbow on the white leather arm of the chair, rests her head on her hand, and licks her lips in boredom. I can tell that she is going for the Sexy-Killing-Machine tribute. I'm sure she's already fooled half of the stupid boy tributes. And maybe even some of the girl tributes.

"Okay, Killani. Now onto a lighter topic, perhaps. With a girl as attractive as yourself, there's got to be a boy that has his eye on you! Or at least that you've got your eyes on!" Cronin says, pulling the audience of the silly suggestion they were pondering.

"Well, I think I know how he feels about me, and I think he's pretty damned sexy," she hints at. I hate to admit it, but I actually want to hear what she says next.

"Oh, Kill, do tell us who!" Cronin says, and the audience cheers and yells and goes crazy, wanting to know 'who she has her eye on'.

"Well, he has this stupid little girl tagging along to him wherever he goes, and she got a pretty awful score, so I'll let you all figure out who it is."

Is she talking about me? And Wade?

Wade looks over to me from where he stands, his chin in his hands. His eyes are asking the same questions I want to scream out.

"That bitch," I whisper. I know she's talking about me. I'm positive. Her and that Silver girl were trying to seduce him at training the other day.

"Are you talking about Briar and Wade Roxen? I'll say, I never thought that this love triangle would form," Cronin says in disbelief.

"Oh Cronin, it already has begun to form! Wade and Briar are a thing of the past," she says. I can feel so many pairs of eyes bore into the back of my head. "It's not a triangle anymore. I'd say that it is more of a line. Just Wade and I."

What. The. Hell.

I whip my head around to Wade. He's already looking at me, his face a bright pink color.

"You better get your ass over here and explain what the hell she is talking about."

**A/N: Woo, another chapter! I'm hopefully on a roll! But that's exactly what I said last time, and look at where that got me… A month long absence.**

**I just noticed that the last chapter was EXACTLY the same amount of words as the previous one! It was so cool. I'm kinda weird with my numbers…**

**So, tell me what you think of Killani's dress and Silver's dress. What do you think of Wade's sudden moodiness? Why do you think he's acting like that? What do you think of her angle?**

**I apologize for all of the swearing in the chapter to those of you who don't really like it. I don't cuss myself, but I definitely see the characters in this story swearing, so I added those words in to give it a better feeling for the characters. Just because a character cusses, doesn't mean that I do.**

**I actually hated writing this chapter, but I also loved writing it. I hated writing the angst between Briar and Wade, but I absolutely loved making Kill such a total jerk. **

**Let me know what you thought of the story in a review! What did you like? Do you like the character development? Who is your favorite? Who should die? Tell me so that I can use your ideas!**

**Alright, that's all I've got to say for now. Next update will be… Thursday evening at the earliest, or perhaps later. **

**Love y'all!**


	17. Interviews Part Two: Katri the Superior

Chapter 17:

The Second Part of the Interviews: Katri the Superior

His handsome face has quickly gone from bright pink to sheet white. The face of a guilty man.

"What the hell was she talking about, Wade?" I demand. I'd started to cool off from our quarrel, but now I'm infuriated.

"I- I don't know," he stammers. He diverts his eyes from my face to the ground.

"You're such a pussy, Wade. Tell me the truth: what is she talking about?"

After saying this, I'm ashamed. I'm in love with this boy, and somehow I am calling him names and pushing him around and becoming suddenly suspicious of him. Who am I to contradict his words? Killani might be lying.

"Briar, I don't know," he says, gaining some courage. I feel awful that he was momentarily scared of me. I really did hurt him. "There's one girl that I love and have ever loved, and she's standing in front of me."

We're both obviously relaxing to each other. I cannot believe that I was so quickly angry and questioning of him. I feel like some prissy school-girl who gets so easily annoyed, but then gets sad when he leaves. Ridiculous.

"Wade, I didn't mean to… I wasn't trying to…" I stutter, failing to find words that properly express what I'm feeling. "Kill's a bitch."

A relieved smile comes across his lovable face and I think that we're both calmer now. "Briar, I'm sorry for being such a 'pussy.'"

I smile to him, and realize that it's my turn to apologize. "Wade, I'm sorry for becoming so easily suspicious, for pushing you into a wall, for calling you a name, and for acting like a school-girl on her period." I'm surprised that it actually feels good to apologize.

"I only had one thing to apologize for. You had three more than I did. Which means you owe me three things so that we're even," Wade says, smiling brightly.

I am so glad that our fight has been resolved. People are going to need a lot of explaining when we come out onto stage together after Killani's extravagant show.

And then I realize why she said what she said: she overheard Wade and me fighting. She knew that we might've ended, so she decided to 'spice' things up and add herself into our story. Damn. She's a bitch, but she's a clever bitch.

"And those three things are…" I say absentmindedly. I am half watching the screens and half listening to Wade. Killani is already off the stage and her partner Crucis is up, grunting at Cronin in response to simple questions. His interview isn't important to me.

"The first is a kiss," he says softly. "To show people that we are, indeed, still going together," he adds.

I exhale sharply, kiss my palm, and lightly slap him across the cheek.

"That's not what I consider to be a kiss, Briar Wellwood," Wade says playfully. I quirk my lips up into a small smile and roll my eyes.

"It might be what _I_ consider to be a kiss though, Wade Roxen," I reply.

"It's quite a bizarre kiss," he says, grinning. Then, he kisses his own palm, begins to slap me, and just as his hand touches my face, he grabs my face with his other hand and kisses me on my lips. I can feel that the lip gloss Dill put on my lips smear onto his lips, and for a moment I begin to laugh, and he moves his hands from my face to my mid-back. I feel so happy, here with him. This kiss is like a renewal; like going to sleep and waking up fresh, the memories from before washed away.

"And here we have Katri Aldjoy from District Three! Good evening, Katri!" Cronin says excitedly. I pull away from Wade to watch the screen. He looks disappointed and I smirk at him.

"Greetings to you, too, Cronin!" Katri says kindly as she sits down, hands folded in her lap properly. She's wearing a deep purple dress that is pretty short. When she moves, the dress shimmers in the light and she looks beautiful. I can see silver wires intricately woven into the dress, giving the dress the visual effect of shooting sparks. Her hair has some Capitol extensions in it, so that it looks longer than it truly is. There are glittering ribbons and wires in her hair, which is loosely braided to look like a fishtail and has been placed over her right shoulder.

"So, Miss Katri, how has your experience in the Capitol been?" Cronin asks after the audience has quieted.

"Well, Cronin, my experience here in the Capitol has been quite pleasant, but I am not deceived easily," she simply says. She does not deepen her thought.

"What on Earth do you mean?" Cronin asks with genuine curiosity as far as I can tell.

"You Capitol citizens know very well what I mean," she replies. She looks so calm, even though she has just nearly defied the Capitol. Betrayed them by sounding like she knew what they were doing. And the audience loves it. They are cheering and clapping and going wild, but I can see a few who are whispering about what she may mean.

"Oh, come on Katri, tell us what you mean! We'd all love to see what you're thinking!" he says happily, looking to the crowd for backup to his words.

"I am saying that I'm not deceived by the fact that you people are trying to… What's the word… Cushion us before we die, if you will. All the delicious food, the extravagant decorations, the immense rooms, all of it, is just some treat before all of us basically die. Sure, there's a winner. But do they truly continue to live? Haunted by the screams of who they killed, plagued by the poisonous thoughts that they could've saved someone? Yes, there is one Victor, but there is definitely not a winner."

The audience is stunned into silence. And I am too. Katri just killed herself. The Gamemakers will surely be out for her blood now. She has defied the Capitol and its ways.

She has said exactly what I want to say.

**A/N: Okay guys, I think that I am seriously on a roll right now. I know, this chapter is pretty short, but a ton of you guys wanted me to update, so that's just what I did. I think that I'm going to start writing a chapter a night for the Interviews. Like on Interview chapter for important District Mates. What do you guys think about that? I think I like writing these shorter chapters that add up rather than one long boring one. Tell me what you think about that idea.**

**So, who has your favorite outfit so far? Briar, Silver, Killani, or Katri? I like all of them! I just want to give another big thanks to all of you guys who gave me the ideas! Ya'll are ingenious! Thanks!**

**SO, there's another chapter! Hope you like it: tell me what you thought in a review! Those of you who favorite and followed but didn't review, please review! My goal is to reach 100 reviews by the end of this story, and I am definitely on the way!**

**Love you all, and you will most likely see a new chapter tomorrow or Thursday! Thank you all again. **

**Peace.**


	18. Interviews Part Three: Ladies' Man

Chapter 18:

The Third Interview Part: Whytt the Ladies' Man

The audience is still silent. Katri sits patiently and calmly, as if she hasn't just defied the Capitol. I smile vaguely. She is such a brave young soul. Next to her is a shocked Cronin. He is sitting there, gaping at Katri openly. She remains strong and sits still. There is no doubt that she will go through absolute hell in the arena. But we all will. We will stay together.

"I- I think that that's all the time we have with the…wonderful Ms. Katri," Cronin says quietly. He motions for her, and she stands up. Katri raises her hands above her head, splits them down slowly, brings her hands to rest by her hips, then brings her palms facing up, parallel to her stomach. Throughout this, her eyes have been closed. She now opens them, slightly smiles to the cameras, and turns to leave.

The audience seems extremely confused, but they love it nonetheless. They stand up and cheer, whistle and clap. They loved her. That will help her. Cronin warms back up and smiles coolly again. He claps with them.

When the applause abated, Cronin waved his hands to the entrance behind a shimmering wall of lights. "Ladies and gentlemen, we now have the lovely Whytt Overwhill! Come on out Whytt!" Cronin stands up and greets Whytt to the center stage. They shake hands, then sit down. He receives little applause, but he looks grateful for it.

"All right! Good evening, Whytt!" Cronin says kindly, beaming at Whytt.

"Hello," Whytt says quietly. "It's good to see you, Cronin."

I see a Peacekeeper holding Katri's arm and walking her in. She looks indifferent and he looks pissed off. People turn their heads toward her and the loud conversation dies down a bit. People whisper as soon as the man lets go of her elbow. She walks with confidence. Even braver yet.

The Peacekeepers retreat to the corner of the room and let Katri alone, but they still eye her from their creepy little space. She gracefully walks forward, sees Wade and me, then joins us. Katri is so calm.

"Hello," she greets. There is a wild joy in her eyes, and I am envious of her bravery and defiance for a moment.

"That was amazing, Katri," I say. "It was just brilliant."

"Thank you, Briar. Let me tell you, it took so much courage to say it all. I didn't think I would be able to say any of it, but I got very passionate, and then it all just erupted from my mouth, and I could not stop myself. But it felt really, really good to say," she says with a small smile. Then she turns her attention from us to the television set where Whytt is.

"You look dashing!" Cronin says, trying to get Whytt to speak up. Katri nods her head to Cronin's words, and I smile at the obvious chemistry between Katri and Whytt. They may be only fourteen, but it's adorable.

And I guess I could agree with Cronin's words. Whytt wears a black suit with a light gray shirt underneath. He isn't particularly attractive as far as his body is, so the stylists of his made a simple tuxedo, it looks like, to make him presentable. His dark hair is tousled and curly, and I can see the tiniest bit of blush on his cheeks, either from his stylist's makeup collection, or from Cronin's compliment.

"Well thank you, Cronin, and may I return the compliment to you," Whytt says politely, raising his voice a bit and getting a bit more familiar with Cronin and the audience.

"So, Whytt, what did you do in your free time in your district?" Cronin says, leaning back slightly in his chair and folding his large hands over his chest.

"Well, I read about our nation's history quite often. I learned about The Hunger Games, like why they exist, and I also read about past Victors. Although I couldn't find too many biographies on the less famous Victors from the poorer districts," Whytt says conversationally.

"Indeed, indeed. Maybe there needs to be more biographies on them?" Cronin asks Whytt and the audience. The crowd's response is less than enthusiastic.

"I believe so. I also spent some of my time building things. I used the simple physics of magnetism to recreate some ancient mechanisms such as a clock. So far as I've been here in the Capitol, I haven't seen a single clock, so I figured that the technology of a simple clock is basically unheard of. On my days previous to entering the Hunger Games, I had been working on a pocket watch, and I even have it here with me tonight!" Whytt says excitedly as he pulls something out of the inside pocket of his jacket. "See, here it displays the time in analogue from, which I'm sure has nearly never been seen over here."

He hands the homemade pocket watch to an intrigued Cronin Flickerman. I cannot believe that clocks are just ancient relics to the people here. It's ridiculous. They are so caught up in their modern technology.

"This is magnificent, Whytt! I am simply impressed with your handiwork!" Cronin exclaims. "Amazing job."

The audience is completely awestruck with this new concept of a basic clock. Behind Cronin and Whytt on the shimmering screen of lights is a moving image of the pocket watch they are holding now. Whytt opens is it up a crack to reveal the mechanics inside of it, and the crowd takes in a collective gasp. He smiles, closes the watch back up, and returns it to its safe pocket.

"Astounding. Simply astounding," Cronin says with a huge grin. "This boy here is a genius!" The audience cheers more loudly than they have before for Whytt, and his smile is priceless. I hear Katri let out a thankful breath. I'm glad too that he did well.

"Thanks, Cronin. It means a lot to be recognized for my work," he says, still smiling.

"So, Whytt, we have a good looking boy like you up here. If a girl from your school were here now, what would she think of you?" Cronin says. Every year he decides to pick on one poor boy who immediately turns pink. Whytt is no exception.

"Well, I guess she would be proud of me?" he says in form of a question. "I've never really been big on romance." He blushes brightly and tucks his head down.

"Aw, come on Whytt! A nice boy like you must have some thoughts about girls!" Cronin chuckles and looks out to the audience. "Girls his age, what do you think about Whytt?" About a tenth of the audience hoots or whistles in approval. People scream and call his name, too. I can see Katri set her jaw in anger or frustration.

"Well, thanks. It's so flattering to hear that," Whytt says, his head up. His blush isn't as prominent, but I can still see it there. It's just now that I realize that he isn't wearing his glasses. The stylists must have had him out in contacts. Katri didn't have her glasses on either. The contacts must be irritating her eyes, because she keeps rubbing them. Or maybe they're tears that she's rubbing away. I don't think so, but it might be. She just doesn't seem like the kind of girl to cry very often.

"All right, well Whytt, that's all the time we have for now, but I had a great time speaking with you, son," Cronin says, standing up and offering his hand to Whytt. Whytt takes it, they shake, and he leaves the stage, plenty of applause following him off.

The girl from District Four comes on next. Her red hair is pulled up into a high ponytail, and the front of her hair is put into a hump. She has on a dark blue mini dress that barely covers her crotch. The top of it goes straight across, but it is very low on her chest. The top and bottom are trimmed with black lace, and there is a black strip of fabric running straight down the middle of her dress. She wears hideously high pumps that look like they'll break her ankle if she takes more than a step.

I wonder how old she is, because she looks pretty young. I also wonder what her parents think of her outfit. If I were her mother I would be very offended and angry if my daughter wore that short of a dress. Well, it isn't my business. But the dress looks awfully uncomfortable.

Her and Cronin talk about arena strategies, past Victors, and names. She reminds me of Melissa. Ashby is a very loud girl, and talks just as much as Melissa did. I wonder, if under different circumstances, if Ashby and I would be friends. Maybe not. She seems to be very supportive of the Hunger Games. I wouldn't want to be friends with someone like that. But then again, if we were under different circumstances…

"Briar? What are you thinking about?" Wade asks, and pulls me from my thinking.

"I was wondering if Ashby and I would be friends in some bizarre universe where Careers and normals were friends. Then I realized that we would never be friends," I say, watching Ashby leave the stage.

"You know, she reminds me of Melissa a lot," Wade says, stroking my hair. I look up to him and roll my eyes at his petting of me.

"That's what I was just thinking," I reply. "She's very loud and almost annoying, and she seems like she would be superficial. Not that Melissa is exactly superficial, but let's be honest: she does care about that stuff quite a lot. And they're both attractive."

"I wouldn't say so. After meeting you, no one is attractive to me anymore," Wade says. I smile up at him.

"That's also what I was just thinking." I smirk at him, and he kisses my forehead. "That's the lamest kiss I've ever experienced!"

I kiss my palm, slap his cheek, grab the other side of his face with my other hand, and kiss him hard.

Who says a sappy ending isn't a good one?

**A/N: All right! Another chapter within a week is just extremely awesome of me. I'm so proud of myself for updating and continuing this story. Yay! I'm also so, so thankful for my awesome fan base and my faithful and loyal reviewers who read and review every single chapter. Thank you so much, guys. It means the world to me to hear your kind words.**

**So, I really liked writing the ending to this chapter. Sappy and sweet. All fluffy and cute and stuff. Something absolutely awful is going to happen in about two or three chapters, so I'm making them all fluffy and sweet for now. Just a heads up.**

**Really, thank you for reviewing and reading and staying with me all this time, you guys. Thank you so much.**

**So, what do you think of Whytt? Or Cronin? How does he handle situations that are potentially dangerous to the nation? And what was up with Wade's little melt-down earlier? Why is Katri all mad about Whytt's girl attention? What's with the Ashby girl? Will she be in the story later? What's the sad thing that's gonna happen in future chapters? Who will die in the bloodbath? **

**And this is one question that I wanna hear your opinions on, because I'm trying to figure it out myself:**

**What is Briar's first kill going to be like? Who will it be? **

**I've been asking myself this question for a while, and I want some of your ideas to maybe inspire me. Thanks!**

**Oh, and: I'M AT 35,000 WORDS! THIS IS SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME I MIGHT IMPLODE!**

**I'm so happy that this story has continued so far and that you all have been supporting me! Thank you so, so, so much. Really.**

**Okay, next update will be on Tuesday I think. Maybe tomorrow night, but with soccer and homework, you never know. I'll try to update as soon as possible, but life's life and you certainly cannot predict what will happen.**

**Okay, I'll let you guys go now. Sorry about this extremely long author's note. I'm just super excited about my fans and words. So yeah.**

**Review and love. If you can't review, that's fine with me. I'm just thankful that you are reading. But please do try! Thank you all.**

**Love you.**


	19. Interviews Part Four: Young Love

Chapter 19:

Interviews Part Four:

Young Love in District Five

"Excuse me, but what is going on here?" I hear a snotty voice say. Oh, God. Not her.

I break from the kiss and turn to face her. It's Killani, with her stupid Career girls following her around. She has her hands on her hips, and her "clones" are doing the exact same thing. "Oh, I saw this coming," Wade whispers.

"It turns out that it is exactly what it looks like, 'Kill'," I say. She rolls her eyes and snorts.

"Well, you know what it looks like to me? It looks like you were kissing Wade here, and he was not enjoying it because, guess what sweetheart: he's mine now, and I'm his," she retorts. Killani brings her hand up to her face and expects her nails. She blows them off, then scraped them on her dress.

"Oh, really? Killani, you sound like some pathetic school girl who wants the popular guy. Honestly, I wouldn't expect you to sink so low. I figured you were better than that. Obviously not," I reply, acting as nonchalant as she is. In the background, I can hear the boy from District Four talking to Cronin. I know Sagitarria will be on next, so I am going to try to end this argument, with me winning.

"I didn't know you thought so highly of me. Turns out the Low-District scumbags actually do admire us. Surprising." She is just trying to infuriate me. And it's working. But just when I am about to reply, I hear Wade speak up.

"Killani, we really don't think highly of you. I actually feel sorry: if you have to make up stories about a romance and make fun of people, there must be some _serious_ issues in your life. Honestly." Wade crosses his arms and sharply juts his hips to one side, exaggerating the pose Killani and her crew are holding. I hold back a snort. He's so sweet.

"Well, I don't have your admiration, but I do have your sympathy, and that's good enough for me!" she huffs. Then, she turns around angrily, and orders her little pack away.

"That was sweet!" I exclaim. "Good job, Wade."

He smiles like a goof, then hugs me around the shoulders. We turn around just as Sagitarria enters the stage.

She looks just like her personality: feisty and proud. Sagitarria's wearing a tight green dress that is a bit lighter a color than the color of my dress. The middle of the dress near the stomach is just black lace, and you can barely see her stomach beneath it. And the dress is super short. It comes down to just below her crotch. It looks like more of a shirt than a dress. The top of her dress is a sweetheart neckline with a halter (Melissa taught me these terms. How she knew of them, I'll never know.) And around her shoulders is also black lace, the same pattern as the middle of her dress. The halter is green, and surrounding it is the black lace. On her hands are small leather gloves from old times, and on her feet are ancient looking black combat boots. She looks sexy and dangerous.

The audience is going wild, eating her up with their eyes. She does look gorgeous, I must admit. I hope she does well with her actual interview. But I know that she will. She's a very cocky person. She can handle herself.

"Well, what a warm welcome from the crowd!" Sagitarria says as she sits down. She blows the bangs that escaped from her messy bun out of her face. "Thank you for having me!"

"Of course, Sagitarria! And may I say that you look absolutely stunning!" Cronin says warmly.

"Well, I suppose you may. I guess you already did, anyway. And, haven't you said that to everyone tonight? It's quite a generic remark, isn't it? Oh, whatever. You look stunning too, then," Sagitarria jokes. Cronin's face goes bright red and it looks quite strange with the black of the rest of his attire.

"Okay, okay, now dear, let's get down to the questions. So, I have heard a rumor that you have been accepted into the Upper-District Alliance. Is this true?" Cronin asks, shushing the raging audience.

"Oh, Cronin! You have some good gossip sources, because this is absolutely true! I would never want to have my talents _wasted_ on saving the lives of the pathetic losers that my districtmate is allying with. It's so sad to think that I would have been with them." I know that she is just acting, but her insults still sting.

"Ah. I see. And, what, exactly, do those talents consist of?" Cronin continues, leaning forward in his chair.

"Clever question, but you won't get a peep from me!" Sagitarria says, smirking. "I'm quick. I'll say that much."

"Good to know, good to know. She's quick!" Cronin repeats. "So, can you give us any hints as to what we might see in the arena?"

"Umm… Well, I can guarantee that there will be questions answered, and questions asked. I bet there will be love, murder, betrayal, and everything in between. And pain. I'm positive there will be pain." Sagitarria licks her lips and looks straight into the cameras.

"Uh, okay," Cronin begins nervously. "Who are the competitors that are most dangerous to you? That you aren't allying with, of course."

"Oooh, let's see. There's that girl from Three. I've heard she's good with a bow and an arrow. And then there's that boy from Seven. He's strong, I think. And his mate, the girl from Seven. She's pretty mean and feisty, if I recall correctly." Sagitarria ticks the names off with her fingers. Mean and feisty. Not bad.

"Good to hear, dear. Oh, unfortunately, I think our time together is up. I had a wonderful time." Cronin wastes no time in standing up and hugging her for a second too long, and the audience dies down. Sagitarria smiles politely, and pushes him off.

"Good bye," she whispers as she exits the stage.

"See! I told you he was a total perv!" I hear Silver screech as soon as she sees Sagitarria.

"Yeah, that was gross, Tari," Killani says to Sagitarria.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, let's give our District Five male a warm welcome, here we have Beck Atoms!" Cronin announces. Beck walks on stage, and I see that he's wearing a dark blue suit with the top shirt buttons undone. His brown-blond hair is scruffed up and he looks comfortable and relaxed. He smiles at the crowd and the people go crazy.

"Hey," Beck says calmly after they shake hands and sit down. "Good to be here, man."

"Good to be here with you, too, Beck. So, so far, what has been your most memorable experience, here in the Capitol?" Cronin asks, not waiting to start the questions.

"Well, that would have to be when I got slapped by Silver for hitting on her," Beck says with a sloppy grin. "Boy, was she pissed!"

I can hear her shrieking in the background. I smile to myself.

"But, she did kiss me afterwards, so that was a bonus. I guess chicks get all weird when they're angry," he adds. Silver is still shrieking and denying their kiss. I have no clue if he's telling the truth, but the scene going on is hilarious.

"He tried to kiss _me!_" I hear her yell.

"That stirred things up, now didn't it?" Wade says with a laugh. I nod and smile with him.

"Indeed, I'm still trying to figure women out and I'm a grown man!" Cronin exclaims. The audience is really having it. They're laughing and whistling.

"But, to be honest, I haven't really had any luck with chicks, Cronin. No one likes me that way," Beck says, a lazy grin lighting his face up. I can tell he's trying to fish out compliments, and it's so funny to watch.

"Aw, don't lie to us, Beck!" Cronin says, smiling. "I'm sure plenty of ladies your age would love a chance to be with you!"

"Well, there was one 'lady' who was with me. But I messed it up," Beck says, obviously knowing that they would want to hear his story.

"How so?" Cronin asks, leaning forward to hear the story.

"I swear, I loved this girl. And you know, as guys we want something all the time, if you know what I mean. There was this day when this girl came up to me, and this was when my girl was away, and the stranger started flirting, and you know, I was just playing around with her, but then she kissed me! I didn't see it coming or anything! So then I just stood there in shock while this stranger started to maul my mouth with hers. It was… It was awful. Because then the girl I was going with came by. My girl was heartbroken, I saw it in her eyes, but she masked it with fury. Ended it right there and then and told me I could continue with that slut. I've tried to tell my girl the whole story, but she never believes me. She's still so mad at me. I always apologize for it. And I can't believe that I let that relationship fail. She was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen, and I'd let her slip away. I am so stupid," Beck says, the cocky goofiness gone from him.

He was talking about Sagitarria. I remember that story from earlier. Her and her 'friends' have gone completely silent. They ask her who he was talking about, and Sagitarria says she doesn't know. But I can see realization and yearning on her pretty face. Maybe Beck's story's half is true, maybe he didn't have any part in the kiss. And maybe now they can be with each other.

"Oh, Beck. We've all been there. It's awful, isn't it? Heartbreak. Just terrible. You wouldn't mind telling us who this girl was, would you?" Cronin says.

"I would mind, because I know that that girl is embarrassed about dating me, and since I'm still in love with her, I wouldn't to hurt and embarrass her more than she already is. Sorry, Cronin," Beck says. "I want her to know that I do love her. And that I'm so sorry about that one girl. I just froze. I'm sorry, and I love you."

"Oh, young love! So heartfelt!" Cronin wipes a tear from his eye, then turns back to Beck. "I'm so sorry but our time is up. I wish you luck with this girl, Beck. Maybe you can win and tell her in person that you love her!"

The audience goes mad as he leaves. The young love story never gets old, does it?

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to have an intermission now! Feel free to roam around, and if you truly want and have tickets to, you can meet your favorite tribute!" Cronin says happily.

And just before the cameras cut off, the microphone catches something Beck says.

"I don't have to win to tell her that."

And now the nation knows just who his girl is.

**A/N: Guys! I'm so, so sorry about this absence! I always do this. I really need to stop. Stupid soccer has been taking my life over! Luckily, the season ends this coming weekend, so that's awesome. **

**Updates- I'll try to be more consistent, I promise. I always say that, but with soccer coming to a soon end, I actually can be true to this promise. I swear, guys.**

**Umm….I know it's almost been a month. I feel so bad. I guess this can be your Halloween gift? Maybe I'll update on Halloween, and that'll be an even better gift! I'll see what I can make happen.**

**Right now, I'm trying to get to the Games before the middle of November. The fifteenth is my cut-off date: if I'm not to the Games yet by then, I will do anything in my powers to update to get to the games. Honestly though, I only have like three more Interviews to do that are important. Next chapter will most likely be the tribute meeting at intermission and Wade and Briar's interview. It's going to be a good chapter.**

**I hope I'm not boring you guys with these short chapters. I promise that we'll be at the games before the 25****th**** chapter. That's my goal.**

**That's all for now guys. I want to thank reviewers and followers. Thanks for reading guys. Love you.**

**And those of you who haven't reviewed: please do! It means the world to me to see your thoughts on my writing! Thank you.**

**Have a good week!**

**Bye. **


	20. Interviews Part Five: Sorrow and Loss

Chapter 20:

The Interviews Part Five:

Sorrow and Loss

"And now, may I welcome the lovely Librae Odinshoot of District Six!" Cronin says warmly, as the audience cheers out of kindness.

I remember her. That bright red hair, and those murky green eyes are familiar to me. Librae was that mean girl from the knife station. She made fun of Winnow and pushed Katri. We got into a fight, too. She was pretty feisty and quick witted, like me, but she was unforgiving.

She's wearing a knee-length maroon dress with a horrifyingly low neckline. Judging by her height and size, she's eighteen.

Cronin works up a conversation with her, and it doesn't include anything relevant to me, so I tune them out and think. About the future. About the arena. About the Interview that is coming up very soon.

"What are you thinking about?" Wade asks, his arms around my shoulders.

"Everything," I reply. "I honestly have no idea what will be happening in the next few days, and I'm nervous. You know, this is probably the only time I'm going to be admitting this, Wade. Don't get used to it."

"Oh, Briar. You don't have to be funny when you're scared. It's good to admit fear, you know that," Wade says kindly.

"What are we going to say in the Interview?" I ask, taking his soft hands in mine and holding them on my chest.

"We'll go along with Cronin, and go for our angles when we reply to him. There's no need to be anxious, Briar. I know we'll do fine. And, it's not like this necessarily affects our arena experience, anyway. I guess we might lose sponsors," Wade says thoughtfully.

I still haven't told him about Caine. And how Caine offered us full sponsorship. Should I?

I decide not to. "We'll do fine without some stupid silver parachute. We can rely on ourselves, right?" I say with a grin.

"I sure hope so, sweet," Wade absentmindedly says, watching the screen.

"'Sweet'?" I ask with a chuckle. "Did you really call me sweet? If anything, I am sour!"

"Wade Roxen and Brair Wellwood? You're up next!" a set producer calls. I grab Wade's hand and drag him over to the pit area that is underneath the stage.

"You ready?" Wade whispers.

"I think so. I guess I have to be, right?" I reply in a hushed voice.

We wait the full three minutes as the boring male from District Six rambles on and on about some sort of stupid train. I space out until I hear Cronin call our names.

"And now, under very special and _unusual_ circumstances, I present you both the amazing Wade Roxen and the dazzling Briar Wellwood, from the lumber district, seven!" Cronin calls.

The stage manager pushes us upwards, up a flight of stairs, through a flap of flowing material until we find ourselves on the bright and colorful stage of Cronin Flickerman. The audience cheers mildly, and if I squint, I can see signs that people are holding up. Some have giant hearts on them.

Didn't know people liked us so much. Huh.

"Good evening, Wade and Briar. Since this is a conjoined meeting, there will be six minutes of interview time, alright?" The crowd agrees and so do Wade and I.

"So, do tell: what exactly happened with the Photo Incident? Do you have any insider details?" Cronin asks, leaning in, and making the audience also curious.

"Well, Cronin, I think you-all know just as much as Briar and I do. It was quite scandalous," Wade says, covering me. No words even came to my mind. My feelings toward that situation have completely changed. I don't know what to think about Dill and the pictures anymore.

"Ah. Ah. On a lighter subject, do you have any predictions for the arena?" Cronin asks.

This one is mine. I have to make an impression. I out my hand around my mouth facing away from Cronin and say quite loudly to Wade, "Is that really a lighter subject?"

Cronin laughs good-heartedly, and the audience thinks that it's a laugh and a half, so Wade and I just sit there, smiling and trying to get used to this stage. The lights are extremely bright, and I can't squint hard enough to be able to see anything (I feel the word 'anyone' in that situation would be an overestimation about the 'people' out there.) in the crowd.

Wade grasps my hand and I smile more.

"Oh, Briar. So, I do have a question for you, now. How do you feel about your training score?"

Oh.

Yeah.

That.

A six.

"Well, see, I uh… I feel that it was atrocious! I feel like I did much better than they give me credit for, and that I would like a recount!" I yell, smiling out to the crowd.

Cronin is only slightly smiling: if he showed enjoyment in my statement, he would be tried for mutiny and executed. I pretty much 'dissed' the entire Gamemaker crew.

"Uh, okay. Wade, I have heard quite a bit about you from the ladies. What is your opinion on that matter?" Cronin asks, slightly nervous. Nice subject change, I think.

"Well, you see, this is a widely controversial subject. Many claim to hold my heart," Wade begins. I roll my eyes, and take a finger and drag it across my throat. The audience giggles, but listens to him continue. "And, you may ask who that person is. Who do you think it is?"

The audience screams my name, and some scream Killani's. I even hear someone yell Silver.

"The girl is sitting right next to me, right now," Wade says, putting his arm around my shoulders. He leans over and kisses me on the lips, and I kiss back for a moment, but then pull away. He pouts but I turn back to a grinning Cronin.

"Wonderful, wonderful- Wait a moment. Briar, it seems that there is some news for you from home," Cronin says, pressing a spot under his ear. I look closely, and I can see a strange bump-like thing under his earlobe. Almost like a button. I shudder at the thought of a button in my ear.

But then I am happy: there is news from home!

"Oh, oh dear. Briar, we have some terrible news."

Of course. It has to be terrible news.

And he just has to announce it on live tele-

"Your grandmother has died."

**A/N: Sorry guys! I know I said I would try to update by Halloween, but obviously that has not happened. I just got caught up on homework and all of these drama things, so yeah.**

**But here, I present you with a chapter that made me cry and hate myself for thinking up. But the ending was so deliciously evil, I just had to add it in. I am so sorry.**

**Oh, to the guest ****Johanna is cool, **** in the seventy-fourth and seventy-fifth and probably ten previous Hunger Games, it WAS President Cornillius Snow, but my story takes place in the sixteenth, and I assume that there was a different president then, so I gave him the name Julias.**

**Shout out to everyone who has reviewed, and to ****Clato 02,**** my new follower! Wohoo! Join the cult! Just kidding. Thanks for following and reading. It means so much to me.**

**You guys are all just so awesome! I have 20 chapters of this story done, and 88 pages on Microsoft Word. Guys, that's a lot! I'm so proud of how far this story has made it, and I want to say thank you to every reviewer!**

**I will write up a list of all of you on the chapter before the games start, to celebrate each of you. Thank you all, again.**

**Review, love, and have a good weekend.**


	21. The Interviews Part Six: Even in Death

Chapter 21:

The Interviews Part Six:

Even in Death

My heart stops for a moment.

Dead? Is she really dead?

The second he says it, I think he's kidding.

But the grim look on his face tells me different.

And my world is shattering around me.

Wade's grip on my hand tightens, as if to reassure me.

But I'm not. I can't feel it.

"W-w-what?" I stutter. "You're… You're not serious are you? Is this some sick joke?"

"I'm so sorry, Briar. Your grandmother is dead," Cronin says sadly, moving his hand forward to console, but I shrink away.

"What the hell?" I scream, suddenly furious. The audience gasps in shock and I snarl at them. "Why the hell would you do that? Tell me that my grandmother is dead, here, on live television?"

Cronin stares at me in surprise. I'm sure the producers and runners of the show urged him to say it: he probably doesn't have a brain large enough to comprehend what the results of that would bring.

"Briar, calm down," Wade whispers to me. "He just wanted to let you know."

"Why? Why not wait until I'm not on the freaking stage?" I yell.

I'm devastated right now. I'm furious right now.

I'm all emotions.

My chin is trembling.

My eyes are stinging.

My throat is clenching.

I feel a huge sob in my throat, waiting to burst out.

The only person who ever loved me, the woman who raised me, and the woman who protested as a teenager. The strongest person I know.

Dead.

I wonder what my mom is doing. If she is even alive, too. Would she kill herself after Grandmama died?

She is most likely alive, though. That ass of a man Cronin would have announced that, too, if it were the case.

I take in a shuddery breath.

I shouldn't blame Cronin. He probably didn't have a choice in saying that. The managers probably just wanted views and reviews.

And then I realize something: with his saying of that, I can show that sweet and innocent side of myself.

So I do something I never expected myself to do in front of millions of people.

I cry.

I let the tears pour out of my eyes, and I let Wade hold me, and I even let Cronin touch my hand.

And you know what?

It felt pretty damn good to do that.

I cry and cry, because the sadness of everything adds up, and it hurts if you bottle it in like I do.

We have two minutes left in our interview. I feel like I've portrayed myself perfectly. I have showed the witty, mean side, and the soft side that everyone has somewhere.

"Briar and Wade, what are some of your fondest memories from being children?" Cronin asks, actually speaking of a bright side.

Wade speaks first, after some hesitation. "I remember when I was five years old, my mom took me down to the river in our district, and she showed me some flowers that I still remember. They were white and pink, with beautiful and soft petals, but the stems were prickly and tough. I kept poking myself when I tried to pick it, but then she stopped me, and told me, 'If you pick it just right, you will not poke yourself, and it will stay beautiful.' I have remembered her advice to this day, and I have even applied it."

"What flower was it?" Cronin asks curiously.

I smile and roll my eyes. I know exactly what the flower was. I wonder, though, if he made the story up, or if it did happen.

"I'll give you a hint," I say. I stand up, and gesture to my dress. The audience seems confused at first, but then start to speak up excitedly. I think they get what I mean.

"That's a lovely story! And a lovely dress, I might add!" Cronin says, motioning for me to sit back down. I sit in Wade's lap playfully, and he smiles hugely.

He twirls my hair around his fingers, his face close to mine. I really want to kiss him, right then and there, but that might be 'socially unacceptable'.

"And, what a lovely couple!" Cronin says happily. The crowd goes wild, and I lean in and kiss Wade, just for the hell of it.

The buzzer goes off as we kiss, and we don't stop immediately. He holds me tighter, and I smile.

"That's all the time we have, you two, but it was truly a wonderful time. Thank you for coming!" Cronin says excitedly. The cheering is loud and overwhelming, but we manage to get off of the stage in one piece.

"You guys!" Beck says excitedly when Wade and I get off of the stage. "You were just awesome! It was so fun to watch! But I swear, Briar, I thought you were gonna rip Cronin's throat out!"

I smile at him. "And I'll rip yours out too, if you don't watch out! Just wait for tomorrow!"

His grin is erased. I went too far. The games are a too serious subject, especially this close to them.

"I'm so sorry, Beck. I didn't mean-"

He stops me. "It's fine, Briar. Seriously. Anyway, we all know that I'm not making it past the bloodbath."

That stops me cold. "Don't you think like that, Beck. You know as well as I do to not underestimate people. You can't say that kind of thing!"

"Face it, Briar. You're going to go far, and none of the rest of the alliance will, except maybe Sagitarria. You can't be this optimistic right now," Beck says coldly.

I am at a loss of words. I can't believe that he just said those things, so harshly.

"I can't believe you," I say as he leaves me standing there.

"People take the games really roughly, Bri. Let him go and mope," Wade says, leading me away.

We stand and watch the rest of the interviews go by, nobody standing out. Skene acts like a typical Career, and Winnow is quiet and thoughtful. Cronin gets a huge amount of applause, and then they're over. Finally, the interviews are over.

As soon as the mentors and stylists can come pick us all up, Dill and Basil and Volumnia rush in, squealing happily.

"Briar! That was perfect! Just what I wanted from you! Although, I'm so, so sorry about your grandmother," Dill says excitedly, but adds the last part in a hushed tone.

I smile and thank him.

"Are you two hungry?" Volumnia squeals. Wade and I look to each other and nod. "We had a celebration meal prepared, because we knew you two would do well!"

Come to think of it, I am pretty hungry.

"Thanks, guys!" I say, trying to be happy. It is all crashing down on me. The Interviews, the conversation with Beck. Everything that's happened recently is leading up to this. The Hunger Games. My grandmother is dead, and I have to compete in the Hunger Games, to top it all off. I will have to see my boyfriend die. My friends die.

Myself die. The thought of that is what scares me the most. I will die in a week's time at best. Tomorrow at worst.

Do I really want to even live? And take the chance away from the 23 others who have more lives than I do? I don't have Grandmama to return to, anymore. Mother might still be functioning on her own, but how can I have any clue? That's right: I can't.

I feel sick. I don't want to be here anymore, not that I ever did. But I just want to go home, now. I don't want to die, I don't want to witness death. I'm tired of it all. The Capitolites, the Games, every stupid little thing in this damn place!

"Briar? What's wrong?" Wade asks me as we walk to the elevator leading away from the Interview area.

"Everything, Wade. Everything here is so screwed up! We're going to die in a week! We'll be dead, and people won't remember us. We won't grow up and marry, we won't have children, we won't live!" I say, feeling hopeless.

"Woah, Briar!" he says, stopping us. Dill, Basil, and Volumnia just keep going and get into the elevator. "Slow it down, live now. What's right now? We're here together, right? We've got each other to be with. We have tonight to do what we want. And who knows: you might win! I know you are able to. You're the strongest person I know."

I don't say anything. I just wrap my arms around him, and hug him until time stops. "Why can't you win?" I whisper in his ear. "Why is it always about me?"

"Because I promised you that you would win. And because you are the most important thing to me in the whole world. You promise that you will win, right?" Wade says into my ear.

I am about to speak, when I stop. I bring my hand up to his hair, and touch it. I want to memorize him. I want to never forget what it feels like to hug him.

"Briar?" he prompts.

I lie. "Of course. But you have to promise me that you will try to win, if I die. Do you?"

"I promise you, Briar. I will do anything for you. I love you," he says with a waver in his voice. "I love you," he murmurs into my hair.

"I know. I love you, too, and I always will," I say.

"We'll be together, someday. If not in life, then in death," he says to me. "Forever."

"I guess that sappy love isn't half bad," I whisper with a smile.

"I told you so," he replies, kissing me on the forehead and then leading me to the elevator.

"So," I begin. "Was that story you told Cronin true? Because that would truly be the sappiest thing in the world."

"What do you think?" he replies with a grin.

"Well, it could go either way: you said it with such precision and perfectness that leads me to believe that it's true, but then I think that the actuality and possibility of that happening with a briar rose is so crazy, that it could never be true," I reason. "But I hope it's true, because that would be the most sweet and beautiful story of fate that I've ever heard."

"That's that, then: it's true," he says, smiling.

"Hmm. I will believe that for now," I say.

It was a perfect and cute little story. The thorn part was just… It made me smile so much, now that I think about it. It sounds exactly like me.

We get to our room within seconds. Once we're on the seventh level, we go into the group eating room and find Dill, Basil, and Volumnia gathered at the long dining room table, watching the television screen mounted on the far wall. I see Cronin Flickerman with his friend Griffin Rollo. They are talking to each other about the tributes' interviews. Behind them is a picture of Killani, scowling.

Dill looks up and sees Wade and me, and smiles. "Ah, there you are! Cronin gave you two a wonderful review on your Interview!"

"Oh, good!" Wade says, and we come and sit next to the group.

Volumnia sees us next. "Oh, you two! They loved you! So here's the feast!"

And it truly is a feast. There is a large bird of some kind sitting in the middle of the table surrounded and covered by a bunch of herbs and some seasoning type ingredients. Then there are pitchers of blue liquids and green ones, and some normal looking dishes, like fruits that are common, but there are also some bizarre looking dishes, too. I am so hungry that I grab my gigantic plate and pile foods that look interesting onto it.

Once I fill my plate up with food, I sit back down and dig in.

…

I really underestimated the cooks here. I ate nearly five plates of just food, and still don't feel too sick.

Okay, I do feel pretty sick, but I just want to keep eating.

And that's freaking me out.

"Why am I still so hungry?" I ask, feeling gigantic, but still hungry.

"Oh, there's an additive in your food that makes you want to keep eating long after you are physically full. They always give it to the underweight tributes," Volumnia says.

"That's disgusting!" I exclaim. I can't believe that I ate five plates of just additive making me hungry. It sickens me.

"I know, but we don't want any tributes starving themselves," Dill says.

"What, so they are able to die a bloody death in the games?" I spit.

"No, not in that way," Basil says politely.

"Whatever. Is there anything here that doesn't have that chemical in it?" I ask.

"The water doesn't, but only the kind from the tap," Basil replies.

I grab my glass and fill it up with the tap water. I return to my seat and gulp the whole glass down. I don't feel as hungry at all. In fact, I feel so sick that I don't think I will ever want to eat again.

"I'm done, and it's pretty late now. I think I'm going to bed now. After all, I have a big day tomorrow!" I say with fake enthusiasm.

"Good night, Briar," they all say.

"I think I'll go, too. Goodnight," Wade says, too.

"Well, goodbye," they say to us both.

Wade grabs my hand and leads me to my room.

"Of course it's my room," I mutter with a smirk.

"Does it matter? Love making can go on anywhere," Wade says, cornering me and bringing me closer.

"Love making, huh?" I ask. His face is so close now, I can feel his breaths on my neck. He dips his head down and kisses my neck. It feels so good, and I want us to be in this position forever. I grab his neck, and bring him closer. He continues to kiss around my collarbone, and I am in heaven.

I've never been kissed by a boy before Wade, and we've never gone further than a simple kiss, so I'm a little nervous, but he guides me. He grabs my hips, and tilts me up onto him so I wrap my legs around him.

"Why so passionate of a sudden?" I question, a smirk on my lips as I kiss him.

"Because I am suddenly reminded of how much I love you and how much I don't want to let you go," he says between kisses.

"Wade," I murmur. "Where did you learn to kiss like this?"

"It's quite a strange thing, a brother," he replies. His kisses are more aggressive now.

"Whoa, buddy, what, are we playing war here?" I ask with a grin. "'Cause if it's a fight for dominance, we both know who's winning that."

"Oh, yeah?" He stops for a moment, looking at me with his head tilted like a curious puppy.

I attack his mouth with mine, my hands grabbing the nape of his neck. "Oh, yeah."

He attacks back, his teeth slightly scraping onto my lips.

He stumbles backward, bringing me away from the wall. Wade keeps stepping back until he reaches the bed, and then he falls back onto it.

We fall off of each other awkwardly, and I laugh as we both try to get back on top of each other.

"Sweet fall," I say, taunting him. "You know, you pretty much ruined the moment. I was getting pretty into it, and I knew you were."

"Who's to say I'm not still?" he says with a grin.

"I am," I reply with a dirty smirk.

"Let's see then," he replies.

I jump on him and am on top of him. I lean down and kiss him on the lips, just barely. He reaches to grab my neck, but I jump back up before he can. He shakes his head, smiling, but frustrated.

"You are evil, Briar," he says.

I jump away. "I know."

He sits up and reaches for me.

"I guess I was wrong," I pout. "You are still, aren't you?"

"Hell yes, I am."

"You want to go all the way, don't you?" I ask, realization dawning over me.

He stops. "I figured that if it was our last night together…" He trails off. I know what he means, and the gesture is sweet, but I am pretty tired.

"I understand, Wade. I totally get it. But, honestly, I don't know if I'm ready for it," I say.

"Of course," he says.

"And, I'm still in this dress, so it would be even more awkward than just newbie sex," I add, smiling.

"You're right. At least we kissed," he says happily.

I get up from the bed, and slide the dress off. I put on some pajama shorts and keep my tank top on.

I return to the bed and slide under the covers next to Wade.

"Wade, do you remember our first night here?" I ask.

"Of course I do, Briar. It was only four days ago," he says.

"Okay, okay. But do you remember the Thorns and Roses game I taught you?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says with a soft smile.

"What were yours for today?"

"Hmm… My Rose was kissing you, and getting to spend another beautiful day with you. The Thorn of today would have to be our fight, and seeing Killani say those stupid things about us. Yours?" Wade says thoughtfully.

"I would say the exact same thing. Another Thorn of mine would be that Grandmama is dead," I say quietly.

"Of course, sweetheart," Wade says. "I'm so sorry."

Even though he gave me a nickname, my heart melts. The thought and love in that sappy little name is so sweet. Hence the name.

"I'm so glad I have you, Wade," I say. "I love you, so much."

He wraps his warm arms around me. "I love you, too, Briar."

"Thank you for being here for me. You were strong for me when I couldn't be strong," I continue.

He just smiles, weaving his fingers through my hair.

"Wade, do you ever worry about death?" I ask.

"I guess," he says, letting me talk.

"Do you ever worry about being forgotten?" I say.

"No, not really."

"Like, if you die, and people just forget about you? Like what if the Hunger Games just keep going on, and everyone that ever competed is eventually forgotten?"

"I've never thought of it that way, but I guess you're right," he replies, still playing with my hair.

"It scares me. I really don't want to be forgotten. Not that I have done anything worthy of remembering, but I just don't want to be forgotten. Like everyone that knew me will eventually die, and nobody will even know that I existed," I say sadly.

"I won't forget you. Even in death."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

**A/N: Look how close we are to The Games, guys! Probably one more chapter until the actual games start, but I think I will do the huge shoutout tonight! Yay!**

**Also, did you guys like how long this one was? I felt like I owed you a longish chapter.**

**Also again: Briar and Wade were getting pretty steamy there! That was hot. But the end was sweet and happy.**

**Here's a huge thank you to every reviewer! I love you all:**

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**Thank you all so, so much! I love you guys!**

**There were maybe two other reviewers that were guests. Thank you guys too!**

**This story is 96 pages long, and over 40,000 words long. That's a lot!**

**I love you all, and can't wait to start the Games! I have so much planned!**


	22. The Inevitable

Chapter 22:

The Inevitable

Wade and I sleep together that night. He holds me close, and I whisper words of worry into his chest. He replies with assurance, and I nod into his chest. My hair is twisted and knotted from him playing with it, but I don't care. I curl up to him, wishing to melt into him, and not have to face the inevitable.

The Hunger Games.

I will go into them tomorrow. How far will I make it? Will I even make it far enough to be able to say that?

Am I strong enough to survive?

Would I live happily without Wade? I mean, physically, I could of course. I don't require him to breathe and live, but mentally I would be in ruins, wouldn't I? And what if I died? How would he cope? Would he live on? Would he kill himself? I hope that he wouldn't take his own life if I lost mine.

I fall asleep wit these toxic thoughts swirling through my mind and Wade's arm slung over me protectively. I hope we won't lose each other. Before I fully fall asleep, I whisper into his neck, "I love you, Wade."

And I kiss him right there, and try to think only about us, and not about death or loss.

And I actually sleep fairly.

…

"Wake up, you two! It's a big day today!" Volumnia says happily.

My eyes fly open, and the lights in my room are on, and there are outfits laid neatly out on the desk. Volumnia stands over me, her ridiculously long eyelashes flapping when she blinks.

"Come on, my dears! It's already four. We need to have you downstairs in thirty minutes. Get up, _now_, and dress yourselves. Then come out for breakfast," she says sternly after neither of us moves.

"Why should we go?" I ask. "Why should we obey their damned rules? We should be our own people!"

"You know why, and it's not even funny that you would ever ask that question. Now get up!" she squeals, and rips the covers off of us. A rush of cold air flies onto my bare legs, and I shiver.

"Okay, okay," I say lazily, sitting up and rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands.

She leaves us alone in the room, leaving the door open behind her.

"I guess it's finally here, huh?" Wade says, looking out the window, down on the sleeping city. A few car lights linger, but mostly the city is quiet and dark. "I thought that if I pretended that it wasn't happening, that it wouldn't. I tried to avoid it, but it's still here."

I follow his eyes, to where we can see the mountains in the background. I wish we could run away to there, and be happy and carefree. To live off of ourselves. We would be safe.

But we are trapped here in Panem, where we are treated as circus animals or slaves that will perform any task given. We are their performers. And we are obedient.

Wade grabs my waist as I sit there in thought. He pulls me onto his lap and we look out together. Maybe he thinks these same thoughts as I do. Maybe he wishes we could run away together. After all, I have no one to return to, not really. My mom never cared for me, not after Violet died.

Grandmama is dead. Violet is dead. Daddy is dead. Mother nay as well be dead.

And soon, I will be dead.

He whispers into my ear, "I love you, we'll stay together. I love you, we'll stay together."

I hope his words are sincere.

"I love you, too."

…

There is a hardy meal ready for us. But honestly, I am just not hungry. I don't eat, despite Volumnia's numerous pleas and insists.

"You will starve in there if you don't eat here!" Volumnia yells, angry with my stubbornness.

"I will starve in there anyway! How would this affect it?" I shout. She glares at me, and turns to her piece of glass to read on, or whatever she does.

"Please, Briar?" Wade whispers. "You really should eat something now. Do you want some bread?" He offers me a bite of his toast, and I deny it.

"I'm not hungry," I insist. And really, I am. I am so hungry, but I won't take their food. They want to build me up and tear me down, do they? I won't let them.

I am unbreakable.

…

Wade softly grabs my hand as we leave our suite. I have nothing left in there of importance except for the tiger lily dress. I know I won't see it ever again. I leave it in there.

Volumnia chatters and goes on and on about the excitement for this year's arena, but I don't listen to her. I am deathly afraid. My anxiety is finally catching up to me.

This is how Violet died. I am nervous now. She died here.

I am shaking. My breaths come in shallow gasps, and Wade has to hold me up to prevent me from falling. I close my eyes and breathe in a great shaky breath. Images flood my mind of her death. The blood, the jungle, the laughter. They flash before me, and I fall to the ground of the glass elevator.

Why am I reacting like this? What is going on with me?

"Briar? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Wade asks worriedly. He squats down to me and puts a hand on my forehead. He pulls his hand away. "You're so hot, Bri."

"I know," I say, a tiny grin pulling on my lips. He smiles a little at me. "I guess it's just the anxiety. You know, Violet died in the Games, too."

"Oh dear…" Volumnia says. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, honey," Wade says. My heart still catches at his sweet little nicknames. I smile a little as he takes my hand and helps me up.

The elevator slides to a stop. The doors open into a hangar like area. There is a gigantic white Airship in the middle of the room, and I can see tributes being loaded into it. They prick each tributes finger to make sure that they are accounted for and haven't run away. Volumnia walks us to the stand with the Peacekeepers.

"I have to admit, you two were an exciting bunch, and maybe next year I'll be promoted to a higher district! But really, I had such a great time getting to know you guys." She hugs us both, then leans in between us to whisper.

"I still haven't forgotten our conversation, from earlier. I truly wish I could help you two out, but I can't risk my life for that. I'm really very sorry about it."

She hugs us a final time, and then lets us go. We step forward to the Peacekeepers, offering our fingers. They prick them quickly and swipe our fingers onto a tiny piece of glass that is inserted into a machine. It beeps, and reads out my name. They shove us forward, and continue the process of taking stock of their precious tributes. It disgusts me how expendable we are to them. As if we aren't even people.

We step up the white walkway into the actual ship. There are people sitting in the two rows that line the window sides of the large ship. A woman directs me to sit on one side, and Wade to sit on the other, directly across from me. He sits down, and pulls the large seat belt-device down around his shoulders, and I quickly do the same.

Not after long, the rest of the tributes are all lined up in the two rows of the ship. The white-clad Peacekeepers march onto the ship, stern looks on their faces. I sit stock still as we go up, out from the platform, and fly into the sky, our vision limited. The windows are blacked out so that we don't know where we are going.

The Careers are laughing and joking with one another, and some tributes down here are whispering furiously to each other. I sit here, quiet and nervous. My knuckles are white on the handles of the seat.

As I sit waiting, lyrics from my mother's favorite song drift into my head.

_Help, I have done it again_

_I have been here many times before._

_Hurt myself again today_

_And, the worst part is that there's no one else to blame_

_Be my friend,_

_Hold me, wrap me up._

_And fold me, _

_I am small,_

_And needy, _

_Warm me up,_

_And breathe me._

I need someone to hold me. I do have Wade though, with me. He can help me through this pain, can't he? He promised me that he would stay with me. All through the arena.

What will happen in the hours to come? Will I live?

This question hasn't plagued me before as it does now. I am really scared of dying early. Of dying at all, actually. I don't want my life to end.

A knot appears in my stomach, and grows as the time progresses until we land.

I look up to see Wade staring at me with longing and love in his face. I smile sadly at him, tears welling up in my eyes. I really don't want to lose him.

"Don't worry," he mouths. I smile at him, about to cry.

"Why should I not?" I say back, the tears coming out now. I wipe them away, but as they start to flow, I let them fall.

"Because you're strong," he mouths back. "Don't cry. You'll be fine," he says out loud.

_I'm leaving you,_ is what he doesn't say. _You're going to go on your own_, he wants to tell me. What if he does? What if he doesn't come with me into the arena?

I refuse to look him into the eyes. Maybe if I try to push him away, he won't hurt so much if I die. Or other way around, if fate so has it.

I sit still and absorb my surroundings, wishing desperately to look at him, to memorize him, but I won't.

…

We are here. The Airship has stopped, and we are unbuckled now. The Peacekeepers lead us from our seats out into the new hangar. I follow them out into the open area, where individual Peacekeepers take us away to separate rooms.

I guess we wait there until the Games start. I come into the room and sit down on a lone plastic chair and absorb the surroundings. Four small, concrete walls around me. A single coat rack with a black skintight jacket hanging. I grab it and slip it on.

What will the arena be like? I see that I have on brown combat boots that lace up, tightly fitting black pants, a long sleeve shirt made of a strange stretchy material, and a thin grey sweatshirt with holes for my thumbs in it. I guess I should take the jacket from the rack. You never know what you will and won't need in the arena.

I zip it up halfway. I sit back down and untie my laces. I tie them back up again. Anything to take my mind off of the inevitable. I sit straight up. Look up to the ceiling. Take deep breaths. Rub my hands up and down the sides of my legs. More deep breaths. Try to wipe the sweat off of my hands, my forehead. Try to count my breaths. Jiggle my leg. Anything to take my body away from the inevitable.

I twine my hands together, and twist them away from each other. Entwine, then twist away. I keep doing this. It reminds me of Wade and myself. Our ties, our fights. Our love.

I knot my hands together. Take deep breaths. Try not to think about death. About Violet, about Wade, about Grandmama.

A crackle from above me makes me jump up. I look up, but of course there is nothing. It's from a speaker system.

"Tributes, you have one minute. Repeat: tributes, you have one minute."

I stand up, wipe my hands off on my sides. Zip and unzip my jacket. I jump back in surprise when a clear tube drops down from the ceiling. It opens up like an elevator, and I step in. This is what Violet did. This is how she felt.

Will I make it as far as she did? Will I die like she did? What will happen? What kind of hell am I stepping into now?

I breathe in deeply when the doors of the tube close around me. That was my last chance. To jump out, and hope that the Peacekeepers didn't find me after that. I can never have that now.

The chance at freedom. But I have to be strong now.

For Violet.

For Wade.

For Grandmama.

For Mother.

For Father.

And for myself.

I won't break.

They can throw me into this arena. They can force me to kill. But they can't take away the one I love. They can't break me.

I am unbreakable.

**A/N: Guys! We made it! We freaking made it! It's been like six months and twenty something days, one hundred and two pages, 45,000 words, and we FINALLY made it to the arena! This is crazy! I made it to 115 reviews with twenty-one chapters! You know how awesome that is for me? Like, SO awesome!**

**I am so thankful for all of the support and reviews! I have not once thought of abandoning this story, thanks to you-all! Love you ALL!**

**So happy I've made it here! Again, thank you.**

**Review and love! Read, write, and keep going! Happy December First! **

**Love you, again!**


	23. The Arena, Day One: Bloodbath

Chapter 23:

The Arena Day One:

The Bloodbath, Too Close

The tube takes me up, the grays and blacks of stone zipping past me. I take deep breaths. What's going to happen up there? Will Wade come with me? Will he die? Will I die? My palms are growing more and more sweaty as I get closer to the ground-level. I blow air out of my mouth, then bite my lip.

What will the arena look like? I honestly can't tell from the outfit I'm in. Sturdy black lace up boots, tight black pants with weird silver things on the inside, and a storm grey shirt covered by a sweatshirt and a light black jacket with a hood and the same strange silver lining inside. It could be a warm arena or a moderate one or anything. I try to stop over thinking it all, but I can't until I break the surface.

The light flies into my face the second I come up. My tube continues to rise up until I am standing on my platform, which is even with the ground. The tube around me slides back into the ground like a retreating snake. I see the other tributes around the circle, their tubes retreating too. I wonder how many people want to go with the tubes. I know I do.

The first thing about the arena that I notice is the Cornucopia. It's a bright gold color, and the sun bounces off of it, shining into my eyes. I squint and bring my hand to my eyes. I notice that a countdown is going on, and people around me are preparing themselves: fight or flight. In forty-five seconds, there will be utter chaos. But right now, it's eerily quiet.

Around us are small and large clumps of pine trees, some dusted with snow and others are bare. Behind a few of the clumps to my left, I see there is a tree line, where it is all trees, like a large forest. I know immediately that we need to get to the forest. But I don't know how we'll all make it that far in time. I also know that we need to find a water source, and I'm betting that we'll find one back there.

The ground is a pale white color, and is also covered lightly with snow. But in some spots, it's a dark blue or black color. Like by the tree clumps, the ground is black or grey. And also by the tree line is the black ground. This brings a little concern, but not much. It can't be that important.

The fact that there's a pale blue sky makes me want to laugh. As if the world is happy and fine, while innocent children are slaughtered by each other. The bright happy color is so offensive, for some reason, to me.

The clock's time has dwindled down. The announcer is at twenty-five, now. I follow him in my head, each second a tribute. Each tribute with a life that will be torn from them. Even the winner. They don't win, not really.

_24._

I look around the circle for Wade. I can't see him.

_23._

Will we all make it out of the Bloodbath?

_22._

Can I run fast enough?

_21._

Take a deep breath.

_20._

Only twenty-seconds.

Now, I'm forcing myself to relax. To just focus. I know I need to get from here to the woods. I'm about three hundred yards from the tree line, and I wouldn't be able to cut by the Cornucopia to grab anything if I had a chance. So supplies are a no here. But will Katri and Whytt and Beck be able to get there too, safely? I hope Wade does what he needs to do. I can't tell him where to go, I realize. My mind flashes back to when we were in the Capitol and he said he was going to leave me in the arena. I remember the panic I felt when he'd said that. But now I think it makes sense.

I can't tell him what to do, because I know he sure as hell can't tell me what to do.

Ten seconds now. Someone screams across the circle, and I've no idea what's going on. I try to ignore them, but the scream rings in my head. The screaming continues and turns into sobbing. The sound pierces the stillness. I see some blackbirds fly from the trees. The sounds of the desperateness and flapping mix to create a haunting background noise.

We are so close.

So inevitably, terribly close now.

_5._

Just relax. You can run.

_4._

Make sure to get them.

_3._

Don't step off too early. Just focus.

_2._

It's here.

_1._

What's that noise?

Just as the announcer says the final number, a loud cracking sound fills our ears. The ground before us is splitting, forking in different directions. The cracks spread out and crawl forward. There is a large black gash in the ground between me and the Cornucopia. After looking around, I realize that it's like that for everyone. We are all split from the supplies. Since the numbers have stopped, the gong has sounded, and the announcer has officially introduced the Sixteenth Hunger Games, I know it's safe to jump from my plate. I hop off of my platform onto the ground, and know immediately why it cracked: it's ice. We're all on ice. I see the confusion in everyone's eyes. But still, the Careers rush into the middle crazily. I only see a few non-Careers run in. The Bloodbath will be a lot smaller this year, I can tell.

I start to run, as fast as I can, to the forest area. It's my goal. I hop over small cracks, and hold my breath and hope for the best on the bigger ones. I hear someone scream, and then the sound of splashing, thrashing around. Not many people know how to swim. I hope that person figures it out, and fast.

While I'm running, I look back and see Beck and Katri trailing me. Wade and Whytt are nowhere to be seen. I hope the best for them, but I have to keep going. I think I'm doing pretty well right now. I've no injuries and I will be able to keep running for a while. I pick up my pace a little bit, hoping to get to the tree line as quick as possible.

I'm one-hundred and fifty yards away now. I am going to make it. Once we're there, we can take cover more easily. We won't be in the open so much.

"Briar! Stop!" Katri yells from behind me. I stop, and turn to look at them.

Beck face is bleeding on the side, his lip slightly swollen, and Katri's face is wet with tears.

"We have to keep going, you guys. Come on," I reply, yelling slightly. She shakes her head at me. "Why not? They'll get us! Come on, we have to go!" My voice is raising.

"He's dead!" Katri is hysterical. "They killed him! He's gone!"

"Who?" I ask, even though I know the answer: Whytt.

"Whytt! He's dead," she yelled back, more tears coming down her pink cheeks. "What do I do?"

"Just…Keep coming. If you know he's dead, it's done. There's nothing we can do. Let's go," I yell. She stays there stubbornly. I see the indecision in Beck's eyes. But he slowly starts walking towards me, then runs. Katri falls silent. Her face is somber and solemn. I sigh. We have to leave her. "This is your last chance," I call. "Come with us now, really Katri."

For a moment I see her move. Just a fraction of an inch, but then she stops and stays there, stoic and silent. I notice that her glasses are cracking a little bit in the corner. What happened to them?

"We're gone. Bye, and good luck, Katri," I say, and then start moving again. The battle behind us is slowing down, and I know the Careers are going to aim for us now. I grab Beck's arm and urge him forward, faster, faster. We hop over the cracks and hope for luck. After not too long, the peace of our running stops. I hear the crunching of feet behind us, even some laughs. I knew it. I knew they would come after me.

"You might as well stop, Seven."

I don't listen. I keep running forward, willing myself not to look back. It takes all I have not to stop or turn around. Just keep running, I tell myself. Just keep going.

"Okay. You asked for it," the gruff voice says. I know it's one of the Career boys. Probably the brute from One. Who am I kidding? They're all brutes.

An arrow whizzes past me, just barely scraping my ear. "Dammit," I say quietly, touching the tip of my ear. Actually, I was wrong. It didn't just scrape me: the top of my ear is missing. There's a small chunk of ear missing. It stings the second I touch it, and I know I need to clean it now. "Shit, shit, shit."

The second arrow hits Beck, and he falls to his knees.

It's in his back. Directly on his spine.

_Shit, shit, what do I do? Do I keep going, do I wait and get killed? Oh, shit._

I don't know what to do, so I just stop and kneel by him.

The cannons have started to go off by now. I can't tell if one of them is his. But I try to count them.

_One, two, three, four, five, six._

Six people are dead. One is Whytt, and another might be Katri. And one could be Wade…Oh, God. I can't think this way.

No, Beck is still alive.

He's still alive, and I need to keep it that way.

I look up: the Careers are running at us. They're too close.

Too close.

**A/N: Hello strangers, and people I love! I am alive, it's true! I'm so sorry about the late update, and honestly, I've no excuse for it. So I'll just apologize now: I am so, so sorry! I still love you, and Unbreakable, though, so I will never give this up!**

**Okay, this is the arena! I'll tell the truth, I made it up as I went. But I think it turned out pretty cool! It's actually based off of a real place I live near to. So awesome!**

**Umm… Please request any deaths, injuries and give me your predictions on the whereabouts of Katri and Wade! Tell me if I should sponsor anyone, and please: tell me if Beck should live! Vote for him to live, or die. Because then Briar will be all alone…That'll get interesting. Okay, review, and don't give up on me!**

**Happy New Year! My FanFiction resolution is to update more often and to finish all of my started stories! Be proud of me. :P**

**Okay, thank you all! We made it to the arena, and now I'll leave you all alone.**

**Merry late Christmas, or Hanukah, or just Happy Winter Celebrations! I hope 2012 was great for y'all, and I also hope 2013 will be great!**

**Okay, bye!**

**Review, too.**


	24. Day One: Post-Bloodbath

Chapter 24:

Post-Bloodbath

"Beck," I whisper furiously, "are you able to move?"

"I-I can't feel my legs, Briar," he stutters. He's off of his knees now, laying on his stomach. I don't know if I should pull the arrow from his back, if I should leave it be…Oh, God…I could cost him his life. He coughs once, blood spattering the icy ground beneath him. He groans. "It hurts…I'm dying now."

His face is as pale as a sheet: he's losing blood, and fast. I look to his back, and I see the blood has completely soaked through his jacket and the black blood is terrifying. I haven't seen this much blood ever in person. I gag a bit at the metallic smell of it.

I look back. The Careers are five feet from us. There're only two of them: it's the boy from One and Killani. Great. We're screwed. I don't bother getting up from my spot beside Beck. I only swivel around to face them so that I can at least put up a fight against them. They arrive, and I feel obligated to stand up and face them.

"Well, what did the cat drag in this time?" Killani says, an evil smirk playing on her lips. Her dark hair flutters slightly in the wind, her cold brown eyes harden.

I say nothing, just spit on her. She closes her eyes in disgust, then wipes her face off delicately with her sleeve. She focuses back on me, a false smile on her face. "I'm not sure that was a good idea, Briar. Besides, where's your little boyfriend? Did he decide he didn't love you? That an ugly maniac is a bad decision for a lover?"

I spit at her again, no words hateful enough coming to mind fast enough.

She leaves my spit on her face this time and continues. She opens up her coat and reveals a row of throwing knives, then slowly pulls one out. "Or, is this his blood on my dagger?" She holds up a knife tipped with blood, almost dried now. I choke on my air, hoping she's bluffing. He can't be dead…

"Oh, don't cry. Why don't we have some fun, now?" the boy next to her says. Killani smiles and sticks the tip of her knife to her finger, drawing a bit of blood.

"Titus, I think that's a _divine_ idea."

"Wow," I say. "I'm impressed with your vocabulary, 'Kill'. Apparently, you _do_ know more words than I thought. Kudos."

She narrows her eyes, and out of nowhere lunges at me. Her hands are on either side of my shoulders, her legs straddled around me. She moves her hands up to be on top of my shoulders so that she's holding me completely down. Killani looks over her shoulder and shouts to Titus, "Finish off the boy."

I squirm under her hold, kicking my legs uselessly. No one is coming to save us now. We're done for. She grabs her knife and takes it to my hair. "Really, you have such _beautiful_ hair. Do you mind if I take some? Oh, what's that? Right. You're not in any position to deny me."

She rips my hair from its ponytail and lets it fall to the icy ground. Takes the knife up to the roots of my hair, right up close to the scalp. I squeeze my eyes shut. "Why don't you just kill me now? You're already in the position to."

"Why not? Because you're so _fun_ to play with. I think this long hair will make a perfect rope. What about you, Titus?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure," the boy grunts. I haven't heard Beck's cannon go off yet. I wonder what he's doing over there. I try to move to get a view of what's going over there, but then I feel a sharp searing pain on my head. I let out a strangled scream.

"Watch it, Briar. Or I'll accidentally slice your scalp again," Killani says as she slices another lock of my hair. I want to cry. I love my hair. But I guess if this is buying us time, it's fine.

I take a deep breath and force myself to be calm. Maybe no hair will help me in the arena later on. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm not going to make it past these two. Damn it. I just wish I would die with some dignity. This is just humiliating,

She stops suddenly. "Titus, why isn't the boy dead yet? He should already be bleeding out."

"I was going to wait to kill him when you did. To kill 'em at the same time!" he says, a hint of anxiety in his voice. She immediately returns to cutting my hair off.

"He's so damn stupid," she mutters. "Should've killed him off."

I'm so thankful that she hasn't killed him yet. Or me, for that matter.

More of my hair slips off of my head. She just keeps slicing and ripping it off. To be honest, I don't see why she didn't just cut it when it was in a ponytail. Or a braid. That would be better for a rope, if you ask me.

"Why didn't you just cut it off when it was in a ponytail?" I ask, trying to slow down the inevitable. She's so close to the end.

Killani continues slicing my hair off my hair with the bloody dagger. "This way is more painful for you. And uglier," she says with a smirk. "I don't really need your hair that much, I just want to see it gone. Find that pretty little face that you've been hiding under that hair." Her skinny hand grabs my chin and moves it around like my great grandmother would do when I was very young. I recoil a bit when she touches me, and then she's done with my hair. Damn.

She then gathers up the limp hair and ties it with my ponytail holder at the top, then starts to braid it, all the way to the tip, where she just holds it to keep the braid. Then, with her other hand, she yanks me up by my arm and has me stand by her. I'm about an inch taller than her, but that doesn't stop her from trying to control me.

Her cold eyes light up. "I've an idea! Why don't we use your own hair to kill you? Huh? What do you think, Briar?" When she says this, she brings her hands up around my neck so that her elbow is wrapping around my neck tightly. I immediately put my hands up to her arm, which is surprisingly toned. I try to pull it away from my neck, but her grip just gets tighter, and my air is almost cut off. I read about a snake like this at school. It would wrap itself around the prey, and squeeze until the victim died of suffocation. This is what will happen to me.

Then I try to stuff my hand into the space between her arm and me, but I can't. Her hold on me is too tight. I stop, freeze. Think about what I should do in this position. How can I get out of here? My mind flashes back to training. Hand to hand combat…I didn't do it. I don't know what to do…

But Wade did. And I remember watching him from the plant station. He was in a position similar to mine, and he put his hands up to the trainer's arm, and then he dropped to the ground quickly, all of his weight dragging the man's arm from his neck. I can't believe my luck. I managed to stare at him, and that is saving my luck.

I do exactly as I remember seeing him do. I drop to the ground, and for a moment, I think I'm free of her grip. And for a moment I am. But we both hit the ground, hard, and now it's a struggle to see who can get on top of this fight. I end up on top of her first, but she immediately kicks my crotch, and I gasp in pain, which gives her time to knee me off of her and reverse the positions. Shit.

She smiles once on top of me, and pulls the hair-rope from the ground next to her. Oh man… I don't want to be strangled. I don't want to die on TV…Hell, I don't want to die at all! Killani brings the rope down to my throat, the hair sliding across my neck. It stretches all the way to the other side. She has one hand on each side, pulling the rope down. I already feel the pressure on my neck. I cough and gag, desperate for air.

She pulls down tighter, the air escaping me even more. Tighter and tighter, every pull brings me closer to death. After the newest pull, my vision is getting blurry, and the edges are black and fuzzy. I can't see anything, hear anything. Try to breathe in, but just more choking. I'm dying. I'm almost dead. There is so much pain. My hands clench, and that's the last move I make before the world is completely gone from me.

…

Is this what it's like to be dead? Am I dead, right now? I can hear things, still, just can't see anything. I hear voice around me, screaming, and suddenly the pressure that I was just feeling on my neck is gone. The black before me slowly fades into color, and I can see the chaos going on around me now.

Killani is punching some giant black thing in the air, and I see Titus laying, limp, on the ground, some blackish blood on the ground around him. I look over. Beck is unconscious. Well, he could be dead, since I might not have heard his cannon go off. But I know that Killani is distracted with something right now, and her partner in crime is down. Now is the perfect chance to escape.

Suddenly, there is a loud screeching noise, and the sky is filled with large black figures, all coming down on Killani, Beck and me. We have to leave. And fast. I have a feeling these birds aren't good news.

I sit up, my head aching and my neck throbbing, but still alive. As I slowly stand up, minding the noises I make, I notice the dagger and my hair, just laying on the ground. I bend down and scoop them up, shoving them down my pants. I know I'll regret that later, but it's the quickest option right now. The birds have attacked, and now I am obstructed by giant blackbirds that might as well be carnivorous. I run through the mass of them, and find Beck. I grab his shirt collar, heave him up, and throw him over my shoulder. He's not very heavy, for a seventeen year-old, anyway. I start to gallop along, hoping for the right direction. The giant birds are everywhere. I truly can't see ahead of me right now, and I also feel light headed. I still quickly walk, hoping my feet don't trip over any cracks. Wouldn't that just be perfect? After an amazing, miraculous get-away, I die from tripping in a crack and being eaten by gigantic birds?

I keep going, for what seems like hours. I know it hasn't been hours, but I can't tell, not really. Dragging my feet through throngs of viscous birds really tired me out. I nearly run into a tree when we reach the tree line. The birds have cleared by now, and when I turn to look for Killani and Titus, I see that they're gone. Thank God.

I know we need to get deep into the forest, so I still go on. I feel somehow safer in here, like having any kind of protection is life-saving. It doesn't matter. All that matters is getting Beck safe and far from the Careers. I need to set us up, and probably make a shelter. Who knows what these nights could hold. I'm sure the birds are just the beginning.

About an hour later, I think we're far enough into the woods. It's already started getting dark. The sun is setting, and despite what's going on, it looks beautiful to me. I smile as I sit down on a mossy rock. Beck lays gently on the grass beside me. I know he's not dead yet: his body isn't stiff. And his cannon didn't go off. Although, on the way out, I heard four fire. So that means the death toll of today is ten. The Careers must be pretty satisfied.

I wonder about Katri and Wade. Where they are, if they're alive. I hope they're both safe and well right now. But what I really need to do is fix Beck's wounds. I look around for plants, but I realize I don't remember anything from that station. That lesson only saved me for the hand to hand combat today. It's shame that I can't remember any of the plants. If only Katri were here…

But now the sky is lit up, and the nation's anthem is playing merrily. The birds all fly away from the tall pine trees around us, so now we can clearly see the skies. Panem's seal shows up, and then the words 'The Fallen' flash by. It starts with Whytt, District Three. I stop for a moment and pray for Katri to be alive, even though his death will haunt her. The screen fades his face, then shows the female and male from District Six. It skipped Katri! That means she's alive, somewhere. I smile, then get nervous about the next one. It could be Wade. I hold my breath as the boy's face fades away.

Both from Eight. It's not Wade! He's alive! I sigh with relief. I don't care about anything else, now. But still, I sit back and watch the faces light up the sky, a tear slipping down when I see the twelve year old from Nine. Both of Nine, both of Ten, and then the girl from Twelve. The anthem plays again briefly, and then the sky is back to being dark and quiet.

Now I need to find the things for Beck, but I have no clue what to look for.

I am trying to think of ideas, when a small silver basket held by a parachute falls from the sky down into my lap. I look in shock at the small package, but quickly tear the fabric away from the basket. I pry it open, and pull out a tiny silver container. When I open the tiny container, a small slip of paper falls onto my lap. I am in too much joy to care about the paper. This is medicine for Beck's wound! In the container is a small vial with a silver liquid in it. I crawl over to Beck, tip his mouth up, and pour the medicine into his mouth. I spit into his mouth, too, to wash it down. His throat takes the liquid, and I return back to my spot. I find the paper, and decide to open it.

Inside I find a tiny printed note:

**Briar-**

**For looking sexy with a bad haircut.**

**For internal use only.**

**-Love, C**

He sponsored me. Caine actually sent me something.

I look up to the sky, a smile of relief on my tired face. "Thank you."

**A/N: Yay! Another chapter! This is awesome, guys! I was all inspired to write, so here it is! The epic battle scene!**

**I shall now present you with a Death Toll:**

**District Three: Male (Whytt)**

**District Six: Both**

**District Eight: Both**

**District Nine: Both**

**District Ten: Both**

**District Twelve: Female**

**Okay! I feel bad for Whytt. :/ But his death was necessary for something later on. That sounds terrible. I guess it is. Don't want to be misleading, though. Haha.**

**I really don't have too much to put in this note. Just: Leave a review! Tell me what you thought about the battle, about the birds, about Beck. (Woop: alliteration, baby!) Okay, tell me when she should find Wade, tell me where you think Katri is, and what the Careers are planning!**

**Alright, I'm done, and out! Love ya, don't forget to review! Bye.**


	25. The Morning of Day Two

Chapter 25:

The Morning of Day Two

I am at peace right now, even if it won't last long at all. Beck is safe, as far as I can tell, from further infection and such, and the arena is quiet around me for the most part. I take the dagger I took from Killani out of my pants with the long rope of my dismembered hair. I can faintly see them both with the sliver of moonlight that slips through the trees around me. I'm so thankful I picked up the knife, but the hair is of no use to me now. I don't think I'll need a rope of my own damn hair, so I dig a small hole in the ground before me and bury my useless hair in there. In a way, I feel freer now without it.

I'm not tired, despite what's happened today. I lean back more on the tree behind me, and zip my jacket up to my chin. The temperature has dropped hugely. Shivering, I pull the sleeves down, so that they cover my shaking fists. I hope Beck is okay in this freezing weather. I hope Wade is safe, now too. And Katri and Sagitarria. I hate to admit it, but I somehow knew that sooner or later our alliance would fall apart. I hope we all meet later on, though. Right now, I just have to take of Beck and myself.

I know we're not safe here on the open, empty ground, but I have no possibility of climbing these trees around me. Especially not with Beck's heavy, dead-weight body. So I just have to hope for the best and sleep with the knife in my hand. I pull my knees up to my chest for more warmth, and stick my hands between them. I tilt my head back, and, feeling fairly safe and content with where I am, fall sleep.

…

I start at the sound of a crackling of leaves way too close to us. There's a faint hint at it being morning around us, with small cracks of light in the trees, but it's still too dark to try to find someone or to run from someone. I move to a crouching position and hold the knife tightly, but really, I'm afraid to use it. I'm not sure I would be able to kill with it.

The crunching of leaves stops, and I freeze. This means that they can see or hear me moving. I swivel my head around, searching for them. They could be hiding behind every tree, ducking in every bush. Hell, they could even be above me. I'm screwed if that's the case.

I step closer to Beck to check the wound on his back. He's still breathing, shallowly, but still. The blood still stains his jacket, of course, but I want to see the wound underneath. I have to see it so that I know if we'll be able to get up and run from the enemy that waits nearby.

But why would they have stopped at my movement if they were an enemy? Wouldn't they have just continued at us and killed the weak link? They could be more strategic though, so I still need to find his injury and assess it. I've no clue what Caine's medicine has done to help.

Slowly, I peel his jacket off of the arm that he rests on his side, and then the sweatshirt beneath that, and finally the green shirt. It's still a gruesome sight, a single hole that's much wider than it should be from when the arrow was pulled out, with dried black blood everywhere, but it's stopped bleeding, and I can see pink, new skin starting to form around the ugly wound. I actually cannot tell if he's stable and able to get up, so I just try shaking his shoulder after clothing him again.

"Beck, wake up," I say. His face is so peaceful, there's no way of telling if he's conscious or not. Damn it. "Man, you have to wake up. There's someone stalking us, and we need to get up and move, now!"

"Dammit, Beck, wake the hell up!"

He's still. The enemy could be closer now, what with all of my talking. I take a deep breath, and I know I shouldn't do this, but I have to, so I slap him clear across the face, an angry red hand-mark on his cheek. His eyes snap open, fear evident on his face, and I sigh in relief. He starts a small scream, but I slap a hand on his mouth. "Shut it. There's someone nearby. We have to get up, now."

I move my hand away, and stand from the crouch. He looks around the green forest surrounding us, more sunlight slipping in now, and tries to sit up, but can't. He puts his arms under his torso and props himself up. "Oh God," he says.

"What?" I hiss. "They're coming, Beck! We need to move right now."

"Briar, I-I can't move my legs."

I stop, staring at him. He's got to be kidding. He can't be paralyzed, he just can't. It's not happening. If this is a joke, it sure as hell isn't a funny one.

"Stop kidding around, Beck," I tell him, desperation in my voice, saturating the command part of the words. He looks up at me with the saddest look I've seen, with the innocence of a starving puppy. "Oh shit. You're not kidding."

"No," he replies quietly. "You're going to have to go on without me, Briar. I'll just drag you down. Leave me here."

It can't have come to this. I don't have to make this choice. I hear more footsteps around us, and I know they're going to come in now, they're going to kill us now. We're dead. I can leave him, I'm able to, but I refuse to. I've saved his life once, and I'm not about to throw that away. So I will stay here with him, and protect him in the face of danger. It's fight or flight, and I'm choosing to fight.

"I won't leave you," I say stubbornly, stepping in front of him. "How could I ditch a friend like that?"

"I'm telling you to save yourself. There's no use in dying over me. Just run away now," he pleads, and I look back at him, and I know he sincerely wants me to. But I can't leave him like this, I can't be responsible for his death. I would feel so guilty. I already feel guilty for Katri, for not waiting back for her.

"No." I stand my guard, and am not surprised a bit when I see the girl from District Four step out of the tress around our area. Ashby, I think her name is. She smiles when she sees us, proud to have found what she was stalking. I look closer, into her green eyes, and I actually see relief. But it's gone the second I find it, and she's back to us.

I expect her to have some weapon in her hand, because I have my weapon in hand, but she has nothing with her. I look at her in confusion, and she looks terribly confused when she looks at me. I realize I must look like a boy to her. I laugh a little bit, then stop myself, and remain cautious and guarded.

We don't say anything, just look each other up and down. She's really young, thirteen or fourteen, and I feel, for some reason, that she's not an enemy of mine. Ashby seems helpless and small with her freckles and small body. Her red hair is in one braid down her back, and she has a backpack on her shoulders. I notice her eyes on my knife, and I drop it, but not without hesitation. I know looks can be deceiving, and she may be an assassin for all I know.

"I'm sorry," she says with a trembling voice. She drops to the ground, onto her knees, less than five feet from Beck, and he flinches away from her a bit, but stops when she starts to cry. Head in hands, Ashby kneels before us sobbing and hiccupping and wincing, and I have no clue what to do, so I step forward, get onto my knees and try to comfort her. She moves from her hands to my shoulders, and continues to cry loudly.

I pat her back soothingly, as I did with Violet when she was really little, and a wave of memories flood to me, but I'm pushing them out, staying strong for the poor little girl and for Beck and for myself. I shush her, words of comfort whispered into her hair as I hold this stranger in my arms. I don't even know why I'm doing this, but it just feels so natural to me.

Eventually, she stops, and backs away from me. She stays on the ground, rubs her eyes, and looks up at me. Her lips are quivering and she herself is trembling, and I just want to help her, but I don't know how, and I'm just very confused right now about this girl.

"I'm sorry," she repeats. "I don't want to burden you two. Or scare you. But I can't be with them. You should have seen what they did to people… I thought I could do it, be with the elite, but I can't. They hurt me, they really, really hurt me."

I'm not so confused now. She was with the Careers, and she saw them torture people, kill people, and that kind of thing is hard for anyone, especially someone so young and innocent. And now she says they hurt her. I wonder what they did to her.

"How did they hurt you?" I ask gently. "Are you okay?"

She says nothing, just pulls her pant leg up gingerly, and shows a nasty cut that is still bleeding away. I bite my lip and inwardly wince at the wound. It's really bad. But why would they want to hurt their own person?

"Why?" I ask. "Why did they do this to you?"

She shivers, and then talks. "I tried to run. I tried to take something from the Cornucopia stash they had gathered last night, but as I grabbed the pack, they took me, and did this to stop me from running. They're brutal. I waited until they were asleep, and when the people on Night Watch people fell asleep too, I took my chance to run. I grabbed this backpack and slowly made my way away from them. It's way worse now, though. I don't know what they did, but I think they managed to sever through a vein, and now it won't stop bleeding, no matter what I do."

Oh man.

How do I save her and Beck and myself?

Will I have to leave her to save him and myself? There's no doubt the Careers will be after her and out for her skin, and there's also no doubt that if they find us all, we'll all be dead.

What do I do?

**A/N: Hey, I'm so sorry you guys! I've been **_**super**_** busy of late, but finally I have found some time to write and update this story! **

**Thank you all so much for reviewing and following, and adding to favorites and such. Everything you guys do for this story makes me so happy, and I just want to continuously thank you all for helping me and encouraging me and everything.**

**Please tell me what you thought of this chapter! In my opinion, it was pretty boring, but I wanted some action to slip in, and I thought the 'escaped Career' idea is new and exciting, so I wanted to try it out. Tell me what you think should become of Ashby. Is she truthful? Or is she a Career spy sent to lure Briar and Beck to the Career camp? **

**Again, sorry for the absence. I feel awful, but I will try to update this as soon as possible!**

**Also: if you read my other story, **_**Silenced Screams,**_** I need your opinion. Do you guys want me to continue with it? I feel so bad about thinking this, but I haven't updated it in a while, and I've lost so many readers, I just don't know what to do. SO please, please, please give your thoughts!**

**Okay, I'm out. Thanks for reading!**


	26. Day Two: Spies and Tears

Chapter 26:

Day Two: Spies and Tears

"Okay," I say kindly. "Okay, Ashby. Do you want to stay with us?" I have no clue what to do right now. She could be a spy, she could easily be one, but she could also be sincere. What do I believe? Would she really allow them to hurt her that badly if it was only to be a spy?

"If you would have me," she replies shyly. "I know you guys don't want me here, but I don't think I'll survive with my foot like this. I can leave, right now, if you want me to."

"I want that," Beck says, sweating in the sunlight and from the effort of holding himself up. "We can't trust you, and even if we can, they'll come here to find you, and then we're all screwed. We've no medicine to spare on you, or food. We've barely any for ourselves." His hair flops into his eyes so I can't see them to look him in them. He is being very harsh.

"Beck," I say through a smile, "I think we should talk about this." Ashby looks at us in question. I stare back over at Beck, shooting daggers from my eyes. "Privately."

I bend down by him, and look back at Ashby who politely looks away at the trees and plants around us. "That was a little harsh, don't you think? She's just a child! I believe her," I say, trying to sound sure, but I'm not.

"Do you have _any_ reason to believe her?" he questions. I don't, I know I don't. It's just her innocence, it reminds me so much of Violet. So much so that, now that I think about it, my heart would break and tear if I saw her die, and it was my fault. "Hmm?" he asks.

"No," I say, looking away from him. I can't do this, leave her or choose him, or anything. I can't do this arena. I take in a deep breath, and close my eyes. I breathe back out and wipe my palms on my pants. "No, I don't."

"Exactly," he says, his voice startlingly cold. "You have no reason to believe her, a Career. Send her off, Briar, if you know what's best for us." I stop looking away from him, and now look directly into his eyes. He's dead serious, and the silly, funny boy from District Five that was in love with Sagitarria is totally gone. I look away again, and now I feel tears starting to spring from my eyes. I hurriedly wipe them away with my sleeve, and then turn to face Ashby.

"Go."

"Please, I know something that will-"

"GO."

"Wait, before I go," she starts with an unsteady voice, "I know where he is."

"Who?" I ask, even though I know the answer. She knows where Wade is. She can bring me to him.

"Wade. I know where he is," she says, and I can see in her eyes that she knows she's winning. The cold glint in them tells me what I need to know. Beck was right and Ashby's a liar. She's trying to pull me to the Careers. But I don't call her out on it. I play along.

"Really?" I ask, an unwanted amount of real hope filling my voice. Maybe she actually knows where he is…No, she's lying.

"I can't tell you, it's too hard to explain the way he went. But if you'd follow me, I could show you."

"No, we can't. He's paralyzed, and I'm not just going to leave him here to die," I say. I can see disappointment on her face. She thought I was falling for it.

"They're going to find him if we don't first," she says quietly. "I was keeping them away from him. Oh, and who was the other person he was with?"

Katri. It has to be. "Katri," I whisper under my breath, looking down at my feet, tracing the laces on my boots.

"Yes, that's who it is. They're going to kill Wade and Katri, Briar. You're really going to do this to them? Waste their lives on this cripple here?" She carelessly points to Beck and laughs. I'm positive she's a spy now. The only question is if the rest of the Careers are camped out nearby, ready to take us down if she couldn't trick me?

"Quit the act," I say, disgust rising in my voice. "You know, you really had me going there, Ashby. Nice little trick you tried there. Clever."

She steps forward, her hand going behind her. "What act?" she spits out, but we both know. Suddenly, she springs from her spot towards me, and then I'm on my back on the forest floor, kicking up at her. She pulls a knife that was hidden in her pants, and brings it down at me.

"You're so smart, Seven." She smiles, and looks down at me. I growl at her and she laughs before kicking me in the side. I wince and cough a little, but stop. "And, you know, I'm not a little girl. I'm actually seventeen. Just small for my age." She wipes her hand across her face, and the slight pink color from her cheeks is gone, and now I can see it. She's much older than I thought. "Makeup does wonders, doesn't it?"

"Beck," I say, wheezing a little bit from the kick. I think she hurt one of my ribs. But that's not important now. I wriggle around, trying to see where he is, and I see him leaning to one side, his arm outstretched. The knife. He's trying to save me. Ashby quickly drops down to her knees from her standing position and now she's on top of me. Before she can pin my arms down, I bring a fist up and punch her as hard as I can in the face. She cries out, and moves away from me. I quickly roll towards Beck and duck down when I see the knife coming for her head. She moves at the last second, so the knife flies by her and clinks sadly on a rock behind her. Damn it, now we're really screwed.

I hear a bird call from nearby and for a moment I think it's the huge birds back again, but I realize that it was Ashby, and suddenly the forest around us is filled with the same whistle sound, and then I hear a crashing noise and some hollers and shouts and realize all too slowly what's going on. She's called the Careers out for backup. Imagine their joy when they find that the people they're looking for are the ones that she found.

They are on us in moments. There are three of them: the boy from Two, Silver, and Sagitarria. She bursts through the trees first, and her face falls the second she sees Beck and me. Is she going to have to kill us to prove herself to them? Or did she do that in the Cornucopia already?

But there's not enough time for the reunion, because, almost immediately, a spear is stuck in Beck's chest and an arrow in my calf. I scramble up, ignoring the pain, and try to drag Beck by his armpits, but I know this all so hopeless. We've already escaped one Career run-in, and I'm not so sure they'll let that happen again. He cries out in pain, and I do too, because my leg is really starting to hurt now and I feel so desperate, and reality is hitting me: I'm going to die right now.

I stop when Beck starts talking to me. Silver has no spear, but the boy is already reloading his bow to shoot us down, even though Beck is already dying and I can see tears in Sagitarria's eyes. "Stop, and go now. You can run, you're strong." Ashby has run back to the pack, hiding behind the boy.

I know I'm going to start crying now. I am as he coughs the blood up and I hear Sagitarria suck in a huge, jagged breath, and I don't know what's going to happen. Will she save us, or is she going to stay loyal to them? Could she really let her partner die, a boy that she's known her whole life?

"No," I choke out. I run in front of him and stand as a shield. I can't let him die like this. I can die a protector, saving the one who need it most. "I'll stay until the last moment." The boy aims the arrow at my neck, and I take in a breath, tears sliding down my cheeks. I close my eyes and wait. But instead, I hear Sagitarria.

"Stop!" she yells, running in front of the boy. "Wait, he's my best friend. Can I just say goodbye to him? After that, I'll kill the girl." My heart sinks. At least she's saying goodbye to him. "Please?" she pleads, her voice cracking. The boy sighs and nods, letting her move to Beck. We both kneel on either side of him, and I can feel their eyes on our backs. When I turn to look at them, I see his arrow is still pointed directly towards me.

"Beck, Beck, can you hear me?" Sagitarria says through the tears spilling all over her face. She sniffs once and wipes her face off.

He smiles, teeth bloody, and coughs. "Sagitarria. You're here. I hoped that when I died, I'd see your face." His breathing is uneven, fitful and I know he's near death. He breathes in, wheezing terribly. "I love you, you know."

She closes her eyes and looks down, tears dripping onto Beck's shirt. She reaches her hand to his and holds his in both of hers. "I love you, too. I'm sorry, Beck. I'm so, so sorry." She can barely speak, she's such a mess. Her head drops down onto his chest and she continues to sob. He gingerly moves his hand to stroke her hair, but stops after a moment. It takes him too much energy.

He starts coughing again, blood flying from his mouth. "Bye, Sagitarria. I'll miss you." She pulls her head up from his chest.

"No!" she yells, tears everywhere. Her face has his blood on it from putting her head there, and it runs down her face in streams of tears. "No, don't leave me!" His eyes close slowly, and she kisses him right on his lips. I see his lips smile a tiny bit, and then nothing. She stops as his cannon booms.

Tears come more fiercely now. She screams in anger and looks at me.

"Go," she mouths, and I don't have to be told twice. I have no clue what to do about my leg , so I put one hand in my mouth, and pull the arrow out with the other. When I pull my hand from my mouth, it's bloody from how hard it bit it, but I need to keep the arrow, and the spear from Beck, so I grab it quickly and run.

My leg hurts so much, but I have to keep going, no matter how much it hurts. I run, and just hope that the arrows don't hit me as I go. I can't believe I've escaped again. I might have cost Sagitarria her life, though, for her sympathy on us, but she's strong enough to fight them all. I believe in her fully.

I wipe my eyes from the tears as I run since they affect my vision. I can't believe Beck is dead. I can't believe that I've escaped, and I can't believe that I'm alive. I don't know what's to become of Katri and Wade, or where they are, or what's going to happen to Sagitarria. I don't know where Winnow is, but she is alive. There are seventeen of us left, and it's only the second day. That means the Gamemakers have something in store for us, and it also means that the Careers will slow down with the killing because they know what the Capitol wants: a lot of action spread out over the course of two weeks.

Something big is going to happen, I can feel it. If not now, in a few days. But I know it will. I can tell.

…

I keep going until I can't see straight and my head starts to spin. The sun is starting to set and I need to find a good place to settle down for the night. I also need to find food, since I haven't eaten at all today. I found a little stream that was slightly frozen earlier today, and I drank some water from there. I wasn't so sure about how safe it was, but I was thirsty, so thirsty. I had no way of taking more with me, so I tried as hard as I could to remember how many steps I took from it, but I lost track after two-hundred, when my stomach began to hurt and when my head started pounding.

My sickness could be from the water, or the lack of food, or even the blood loss. At the stream, I tied a piece of torn shirt around my calf, but it is still bleeding, I'm pretty sure, and this huge amount of blood loss can't be good.

I stop at a huge tree and rest against it, head in hands, breathing raggedly. I don't know what's happening to me: my head is pounding, my stomach feels like it's being ripped apart, and my ears are ringing. I scream in pain and frustration and wish for Wade to be here so badly that it aches through me. It's been two days since I saw him, and I want to be held in his arms, I want to feel his skin on mine. I make myself breathe in and out. I'm okay without him. I don't rely on him to live, I'm not going to die. I do hope he's okay, and I want to be with him, but I'm fine here.

I think, at least. My leg hurts to the point that it doesn't hurt, and I think it might be dirty and infected from going through the long grasses and bushes on the way to get here. I tried to clean it out in the stream, but the ice-cold water was too much to stand with the pain. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I make myself stay awake until the anthem, in case anyone else died today. The anthem plays and only one face shows up: Beck's. I sigh, and wonder what happened with Sagitarria. I feel so bad for her, with their luckless romance. He was a good guy, and they both deserved to be happy. I hope he's in less pain now. I hope his family understands that.

That's the thing about death. You don't think much about it until it happens to you. It is a tragedy, sure, you feel sorry and sad and everything, but you can't truly know what death is until you know someone who's died. The hole forms in your heart, and nothing can ever fill it. That person will always hold a part there. I tried to fill it when Violet left us, but I couldn't, so I grew cold, distant. The loss would always be there, telling me I was alone.

That's how Sagitarria feels. I wonder if Wade will have to feel that way, or if I will. I can't know. I might be able to win, but I also think he will be able to. He's strong and smart. People like him, not me. He can get more than one sponsor. He can survive.

I fall asleep smiling, dreaming of being held close and kissed and of being loved. Soft words float in my mind, like paper grazing skin. I smile in the dream. The field around us seems to go on forever, and the world is at peace, only if for a night. He smiles and whispers into my ear, and I am so happy, right there in his arms. The grasses sway at our bare feet and the wind is soft and quiet.

I turn around to kiss him, but I find I'm not with Wade. It's Caine, smiling a sweet smile like Wade's. But it's not a sweet smile at all, it's filled with sharp teeth and dark gaps. My heart jumps, but then he turns into Wade, and I'm confused but peaceful, so I lean in and kiss him, and my arms wrap around him and his hands run through my short hair and he stops.

"What happened to your hair?" he says suddenly, seriousness on his face.

I'm a little annoyed, but I answer him. "It got cut off, I think." I can't really remember, but that's not important. I only want to kiss him. I smile and lean forward to him, but he pushes me back. I look at him, curious.

"Stop, Briar." He is cold and quick now, his voice like steel to my ears. "Stop."

"Why?" I look up at him, and the field around us is now melting, moving away under our feet like the water, and now we're in an ocean, and it's stormy. The waves pick us up high, and slam us down again and again. I scream because I can't see him but he's right to my side.

"The sun, Briar!" he shouts, pointing somewhere. I follow his hand, and see what he's pointing to. The red-gold sun is falling, quickly. "Get the sun, Briar!"

I'm swimming desperately because I know I have to get the sun, _I have to, _but I can't and I'm crying and calling to him, and then the sun falls into the ocean and it's dark for a moment, and then the sun is ripping the ocean away from me, pulling the entire thing down, and Wade is still in the water, but I'm above it and him, and I am yelling and screaming for him to look up, to get me, but he doesn't.

The water around him, black and sharp, starts to spin, and he's caught in the middle, and then he's gone, sucked underneath the spinning, churning water and I'm sobbing. He's really gone.

I wake up sweating and cold and hot and confused, the world spinning around me. I am breathing heavily, and I have to get up and walk and move, but my body feels heavy and I can't lift myself up and the ringing is back in my ears. When I turn my head, there are multiples of things, and the dark is a scary place. I scream, and try to stand up, but I can't.

Something's wrong.

Something's reall, really wrong.

**A/N: Hello people of the Hunger Games fandom! Thank you for tuning in for another chapter! I hope you guys had a terrific week, since it's been a week from my last update. I've had an interesting weekend, painful but fun. I'm sure you don't want to hear my stories, so I'll just cut to the chase!**

**Alrighty, I think I will do a status check on the tributes. Here it is:**

_**District One- Male and female alive. Male is injured from birds. Both with Careers.**_

_**District Two- Male and female alive. Perfect condition. Both with Careers.**_

_**District Three- Male dead, female alive. Female in okay condition: sprained wrist and small gash on upper arm.**_

_**District Four- Male and female alive. Both in perfect condition. With Careers.**_

_**District Five- Male dead, female alive. Female in fragile mental condition, but healthy physically. With Careers.**_

_**District Six- Male alive, female dead. Male in bad condition: feverish and sickly.**_

_**District Seven- Male and female alive. Male in _ condition. Female in feverish, sickly condition. Injury on calf proving fatal?**_

_**District Eight- Male and female alive. Conditions are stable and fine.**_

_**District Nine- Male alive, female dead. Male in critical condition: suffering from blow to head and cut to torso.**_

_**District Ten- Both dead.**_

_**District Eleven- Male and female alive. Male in stable condition, currently with Careers. Female suffering from same symptoms as D7 Female and D6 Male.**_

_**District Twelve- Male alive, female dead.**_

**Just so you guys know, I wrote that as if someone in the Capitol were taking stats and notes about the tributes so I didn't use names or anything. Also, I left Wade's blank so you don't know how he is. Because I'm evil. Sorry.**

**Another thing: you'll notice (or you won't) that I changed the death amount from ten Bloodbath deaths to six, plus Beck's death, which is a grand total of seven dead tributes. I just wanted to give you guys a heads-up, so you know that there are more people left in the third day and on.**

**Yep…Umm… Let me know what you thought! What were you feeling about Ashby? Were you right before you read it? What did you think about the Beck/Sagitarria shipment there? Just a sliver, but I wanted to give it to you guys at the last second.**

**Tell me what you like, what you didn't like, and I'll try to update as soon as I possibly can!**


	27. Day Three: The Field and Home

Chapter 27:

Day Three: The Field and Home

I scream louder, not caring or remembering the fact that I may be being hunted and followed right now. I am so confused and scared and in pain. I have no clue what's going on with me. I'm hungry and thirsty and tired and alert. I can feel my blood in my veins like ice water, waking me up, but I am also not ready to move. My body isn't letting me move.

Finally, I force myself to move. My legs kick the dirt and shrubs around me, frantically. I see yellow eyes peeking out at me from all angles and directions. I hear noises that I know aren't there. Twitters of birds and shrieks of cats and growls of dogs. Even people's screams echo in my ears, and I don't know what's real and what isn't. My hands fly to the ground and push the rest of me to my feet, arrow in hand. I turn side to side, following the noises I hear.

My head whips back and forth, trying to see things that may not be there. Something brushes my boot, and my foot shoots up immediately to kick it off, but nothing's there. I force myself to relax. Deep breaths, Briar. There's nothing out here, it's only your imagination. I'm paranoid, that's what it is. The run-in with the Careers really scared me, seeing Beck die scared me, and now my mind is running wild. That must explain the crazy dream I had.

I sit back down and get myself comfortable. I close my eyes and try to get some shut-eye, but every time my eyes close, the backs of my eyes end up looking dark and bloody and scary and I can't fall asleep. I stay awake for as long as I can muster until finally, finally, I wade into a fitful sleep, filled with screams and tears and moving.

…

I feel sunshine on my face. I wake up, but there is no warmth, no way for my skin to be warm. In fact, it's raining. I can hear the slight sound of the rain tapping on the branches of the pines around me. The sound reminds me so much of home that I ache through and through. But I have no home now, do I? Home is where the people who love you are, where your family is. I don't have either of those things in District Seven. God knows what's become of my mother, and Grandmama is dead.

I shake my head to clear those thoughts. I still have to try to win, despite all of these things. I know I need to try, and I know I can't give up.

I touch my face to find the source of the unexpected warmth and find a huge lump, hot to the touch. I gasp slightly, but then quiet myself. I explore it a little further. It hurts when I poke it, and even when I don't it hurts. I touch my face to feel for more, but I don't find one. I sigh with relief, but I am still really freaked out by the lump. What could have caused it? I know I didn't get stabbed there. Was I punched by Killani? Or Ashby? The past days are fuzzy and distant, like a memory from someone else has been planted into my mind.

When I sit up, I discover several pains that I hadn't felt leaning back. The one in my leg is the worst, and I look down at it, I see that my pant leg is completely bled through, and I know that I need to tie something around it for a makeshift bandage. I rip off a piece of my shirt and tie it as tightly as I can to stop the blood from flowing anymore. It hurts like hell and I scream out loud.

And then I realize something: it's raining. I need some water. I smile and jump up as quickly as I can, and grimace with pain when I put weight on my leg. I grit my teeth and limp to the spot in the trees where the rain seeps through. I cup my hands to collect water, and I don't wait for them to fill up, I just drink it all. I'm too impatient, so I move forward and just open my mouth under the water, letting the cool water slide down my throat.

I feel unstoppable, strong against all odds. In this moment, I am unbreakable, and I can keep going.

I know that this time I need to get more water, so I take my jacket off, shivering at the morning cold. I hold it like a sack, and let water come into the middle part that dips toward the ground. I let it fill up pretty fully before using the hood strings to tie it all together, so that I've made a water pouch with my jacket. I smile at my make-shift item and hobble back to my tree.

I need a plan. A way to get myself to Wade. I've no clue where he is, or how to get to him, but I know I can't be alone for much longer. After the thing last night, I know something is wrong with my body, and it's only a matter of time before it happens again. I don't know what I'll do if it does happen again. Drink some water? I have no food to eat.

That's another thing. I have to find food. I can only go so long, successfully, with no food. On my trip I'll try to find some food. There has to something edible in these woods, right? I'm dizzy and a little tired from having so little food in my system.

I need a plan, and I need one now. I think while I drink from the sack. I can't go backwards, but I can't really remember which direction I stumbled here from. Really, any way I go I have a chance of going back to the Career camp. How long does this forest go on for, anyway? Maybe it ends somewhere close. But how will we know? Is there a fence or a barrier or something? In theory there has to be one. They can't just stick us in here without something of that sort.

I groan as I stand up, wanting to scream from the use of my leg muscles. It hurts so, so much. Forcing a breath through clenched teeth, I step one foot after the other until the stiffness is gone and I can no longer see the spot under the tree. It still hurts like hell, but at least I'm sort of used to the pain. I'm making too much noise. The high grasses swish and sway with my presence, and I know that that's too much noise to remain discreet.

After hiking up multiple hills ridden with ugly, snarly tree roots, and climbing up a slanted rock face that must have been a water fall at one time, I find myself in a huge green field with trees all around. There are huge mountains surrounding me, closing in like a bowl, and I breathe in the air. The scent is of wildflowers and pine and mountain air and…

And this is District Seven. This is exactly it, this is where the town is, looks just like it, except for the lack of buildings here. The mountains are perfect, and flowers are the same. I breathe in, smiling so much. This is home, yet it's not. I wish for Wade to be here, I want him to see this. It's beautiful, breath-taking. I wish Wade was here.

It's deserted and quiet. No one's here, I'm all alone. I know that this is a good thing, I know, but I still wish for someone to be here with me.

I run out into the middle of the meadow, my arms spread to the side, a huge smile on my face. I want to shout with joy, but I decide not to.

The rain has slowed down to a slight patter, just a light shower, and I can see a sliver of sun peeking from the shoulder of the mountains. It's a beautiful golden color, and that tells me that it's later in the day than I thought earlier. I was hiking for a long time, I realize. I've come quite a way from the Career camp, I'm sure. I feel safe out here. I feel secure, but I know that can change quickly.

The area out here is alive, not gray and frosty like the lake was. I can hear frogs somewhere in the distance, and even the chirps of some kind of bird. I hope they aren't from the monster birds from at the Cornucopia.

I sit down suddenly, and run my hands through the prickly grass. It's dead and yellow in some spots, but the green of the live grass is comforting: it reminds me of Wade's green eyes. I lay onto my back, and imagine his arms around me, circling me and protecting me. I close my eyes and breathe deeply.

And then something hits me so hard it feels like my brain slammed into a brick wall, and my heart begins to thud crazily. This is too good. It's all too good. A beautiful field that looks exactly like my home? There has to be something unknown, unexpected. I have to get out of here. I sit up quickly, but then doubt seeps into my mind like a warm, soft fog.

But why? No one is here, and the birds don't sound like the evil, cawing ones from earlier. This place is comforting. It's like a second version of home, and I think I want to stay. No, I know I want to stay. The air is sweet, like vanilla, and I breathe more and more in. I feel happy and calm and quiet. I lay back down on the grass and breathe in and out.

I like this field.

**A/N: This is pretty short, guys. I'm sorry. But I really wanted to update, and this new idea crept into my mind, and I decided that I had to do it now, so I did. **

**What's going on with Briar? First the nighttime fever nightmares, and now this weird calm thing? Leave your thoughts and ideas in a review, PLEASE! **

**Umm…Death toll is the exact same, so there's no need to write it up again, or even add it in here from last time. You guys know who's alive and such, I think.**

**Just so you guys know, the arena is based off of two places that I live nearby. So I just made up what District Seven looks like based off of what the field place near where I live looks like. As with the lake (Cornucopia) and little islands (tree clumps) from the first arena chapter. I felt this weird urge to tell you all this, so there the information. I bet if you do your research, you can stalk me! Hehe.**

**One last thing: when do you guys think Briar should find Wade? And do you think Katri is really with Wade, or do you think Ashby was just a little lying spy? Leave it all in your review!**

**Thank you guys for reading. Have a good weekend and happy Friday!**


	28. Day Three Night: What the Huck?

Chapter 28:

What the Huck?

I lay back on the grass, looking at the sky as the clouds roll away from me and slither back away from the mountains. The wind whistles through the trees around me, the sweet, sweet vanilla scent wafting on by me again. I breathe it in deeply, and feel more relaxed than I did a moment ago. It's calm and quiet and warm out here, and I don't want to ever leave. There's a red wildflower next to me, and I pick it from the earth. Its petals dance up and down in the breeze, and I smile.

A small, almost unnoticeable pang of hunger strikes me, but I ignore it. Food can't be that important right now. I have other things to occupy myself with.

I waste the last few hours of the day just laying in the exact same spot, staring up at the world above me. I wonder if other people are looking up there, thinking like I am. I hope so, I hope I'm not the only person looking up at the sky.

The beautiful painting of a sunset is blotched away with the black ink of the night, and I shift my hands to be behind my neck so that I can watch the Fallen above. I hear the anthem blare out over us, and the seal shows up. No one is fallen today, and that's good. At least I think it is. My mind feels a little foggy and slow, but it's not a bad feeling, not at all. It's calm in this field.

I fold my hands behind my neck, and look up at the black, dark sky. It's quiet and warm and safe here, I think. _It's home_.

There's nowhere else for me. It sounds so sweet, this idea of belonging and staying. This can be my home, my place.

Wade.

He floats into my mind, the ghost of his fingertips on my arm, the feeling of his lips on mine. He should be here. He needs to hold me and talk to me and love me. I want so badly to see him, right now. A tear slips down my cheek at the thought of him, but I am also hopeful, though. He's still alive, he's made it as far as I have.

I will see him. I will find him, and when I do, I will collide into his arms and cry and scream, but I'll be safe and happy there.

I fall asleep with images and hopes of this in my mind as the wind tickles the hair in my face.

…

Water falls over a hill, rocks slick and black with the water. I step out of the forest, and see this oasis, this place of calm and beauty. I smile, and run to the water's edge, gleeful to have finally found something, even though I can't tell what I've been searching for. There's a space, a gap in my mind, and not everything is clear.

I sip from my dirty hands, and when I look up, I see someone standing at the top of the hill where the water fall is coming from. He stands amid the rushing water, staring down at me. Dark hair in dark eyes, tall, handsome. It's Wade.

My heart soars at the sight of him. I know this is what I've been looking for. I smile widely up at him, but he stays still.

I call up to him. "Wade!" I stand up from my crouch, and my dress catches on a jagged rock. I look down, and I'm wearing a long green dress, made of that silky material from the Capitol. I wonder why I have on a Capitol dress.

I've finally found him. I can hold him, and stay in his arms.

But he's still, he doesn't move or speak or do anything.

"Wade?"

He looks up from his gaze stuck on the ground, and I see blood smeared across his entire face, with small lines of light brown on each side, right under his eyes. Tears.

I try to move from my spot to get to him, but I'm stuck in the mud, which is holding me firmly there, in the same area. "Wade, please look at me, please say something. Anything," I cry out, begging for a reaction. I'm starting to cry, because what I've wanted so badly for such a long time is right in front of me, and I can't reach it, I just can't. "Please!"

He looks at me, recognition on his face. There's a knife in his hand, and I can see he's shaking, shivering. He can't do it. I know what he wants to do, and it will break me, just as much as it will break him.

"No, Wade, don't!" I scream to him. "Please, I love you, you can't do this." But I don't finish my sentence before he's plunged the knife into his stomach and has fallen to his knees in the current around him. I scream loudly, my noise piercing the forest.

I see his mouth move, he says something, but I can't hear it over the damn waterfall, and then he's tumbling, falling, through the air, and I can't stop him, and then my world darkens and I pass out.

…

I wake up sweating and hot and shaken. I sit straight up and wipe my forehead off, breathing hard. That didn't happen, it wasn't real. He's still alive. I'm alive, and there's still a chance that I'll find him, or that he'll find me. I hope.

I take in some deep breaths, and lay back down. Try to sleep, I tell myself. Just try.

My eyes are closed for only a few minutes before I hear boots on dry grass. I jump up, my head spinning from the quickness of the movement. I snap my head around, and my neck pops, sending a numb feeling up my neck and spine. I groan a little at the pain, but I have to get up and run.

I stand up quickly, and see someone standing about twenty feet away, their head covering most of the moonlight that comes from behind them. I move slowly, since I don't want to provoke them, and I don't have a weapon to defend myself from an attacker. I could yell to them, but I'm not sure what that would get me. So I stay still, and wait quietly for them to initiate the fight.

We both stay still, seizing the other one up, I guess. My mind is clear as crystal now, compared to yesterday when I was groggy and fuzzy.

The person is definitely a boy, but I can't quite tell who it is. They're kind of tall, but I can't really tell anything else about them from here.

I'm itching to run away, to flee, but I have no idea what kind of weapons this guy has, or how skilled he is, or anything, really, so I stay still.

He takes a step forward, and I take one back. We repeat this a few times, until his pace is sped up and mine is too, but I'm not the most balanced or graceful person, so I trip backwards, and my head slams onto the ground, the scratchy grass not doing anything to catch my fall. I groan out in pain, but sit up and scramble back as he catches up to me, and I'm screwed, I'm dead. He's going to kill me.

The guy starts to run, and then he grabs my ankle and stabs into it with a knife that's in his hand. I scream out in pain, and my foot immediately kicks up, and catches his face. He grunts, but keeps coming after me. He pulls the knife out of my ankle quickly and I whine in pain, but kick him again. The boy is angry, I can tell, and this time he yanks my leg up and up until he's holding my thigh in one hand, and he stabs the knife into my thigh. I scream bloody murder, which it truly is, and sit up as far as I can to claw at and punch him, and then the guy stops.

"You're-you're a girl?" he says in shock.

"No shit," I say through gritted teeth, trying to keep it together. The pain eats at me, though, and I am bleeding all over the place, and I am cussing under my breath.

"I'm so sorry," he says. "Oh Lord, save my soul. I can't believe I did this." The boy has an accent, one that sounds like it's from the South. Grandmama had lived in the South before Panem became ruthless and power-hungry. Then she moved up to District Seven, and tried to hide her past from the Capitol. She did tell me the stories, though, and I can hear his accent just as much as I could hear hers.

"Yeah, well I can't either, buddy," I say bitterly. I'm in too much pain now to talk.

"Oh my gosh," the boy repeats. "I have sinned too much this time. I'm a terrible person. What do I do?" The boy is in shock, and he's conflicted. I don't have any idea what to do when he starts to cry, and I honestly feel annoyed, because I'm the one with a bleeding out leg.

I sit up as much as I can, pull my jacket off, then my sweatshirt, and rip a shred out of it for a bandage. I wrap the cloth around my thigh, and pull it as tight as I possibly can, crying out in pain as I do so. The kid looks at me, fascinated and scared and shocked. I bite my tongue until it bleeds while I tie the second strip onto my ankle.

"I'm going die," the boy cries out, choked up. "I'm a terrible person."

"Shut it, kid, and help me. You can cry later," I spit out.

"How do I help?" he asks. I actually don't know what he can do now. I shrug. I guess I was hoping that there would be a sponsor gift, something that would fall from the sky, like a miracle, but life's too hard for that to happen. I grab my leg, and I start to cry, looking up to the sky for help. A star, a fake one, twinkles at me, and I imagine it's Grandmama, winking down at me from above. She's watching me.

"We need to get up and out of this field," I finally say, tears falling down my dirty cheeks. "There's someone I need to find, and we need to get out of this damned field, kid."

"I'm Huck. Huck Hayes, from District Twelve. Thirteen years old," he says.

"Briar, Seven," I reply. He smiles, and I want to but I just grimace. "Now help me up, Huck. We've got to get out of here before that weird ass feeling comes back."

"What are you talking about?" Huck says.

"I can't explain it now. We've just got to go, now, or we won't be able to leave tomorrow." I reach my hand to him, and he's hesitant, but he does grab it and help me up.

**A/N: Hello, people I dearly love and miss. Actually, I don't know any of you, I think, but still you are friends, and therefore I love you in that way. Anywho, I have a long story that shall be shortened since I'm sure long Author's Notes bore you.**

**So, a couple of weeks ago, I typed up a nice long chapter, for this story. It was filled with tears and blood, and it was the finale. I was so sad, and afraid to let go of this story, but the way it was written was just perfect. But it deleted. I completely lost it, and couldn't bring myself to rewrite it, but I did today, and here it is. **

**I have to go, but I will try to update as soon as possible!**


	29. Day Four: Welcome to Camp

Chapter 29:

Day Four: Welcome to Camp

Huck takes most of my weight on his shoulders as I limp alongside him through the field that had me trapped. I grimace in pain every time I put weight on the bad leg, but I know we've just got to get away from here, from the stuff that stops you in your tracks.

The entire walk to the forest, the boy continues to mumble something about sinning. I don't know what that exactly is, but I've learnt through the years that it's something to do with an old religion. I didn't know that people still did those now. Of course, people still reference them, but I'm pretty sure nobody actually knows exactly what they're talking about.

"Relax, kid," I mutter. "Just get us out of here in one piece." He nods shyly and continues to pull me though the lightening arena. He's surprisingly strong for a thirteen year-old from Twelve. He's thin, but he's pretty strong. I thank the stars for him to be here. He got me out of the field, and now I can find Wade and Katri.

…

It takes an hour, what with my dead weight and his stagger under it, to get across the field, and it's already morning by the time we enter the cool forest. It's actually very cold. Cool doesn't begin to describe it: I'm already shivering and we've been here for barely a minute.

The walk has left me exhausted and I ask to sit down by a tree. I slowly and painfully extend my leg out until I can lower myself to the ground, and then I plop down onto the roots of the solid tree behind me. But just my luck: the thigh wound Huck gave me is exactly where I've somehow managed to sit down on the root or rock.

I yelp in pain, and try to jump up, but that's too painful too, so now I'm just stuck in a hovering crouch position that tears the injury in my ankle and I curse knives in my head.

"Do ya need any help?" Huck says, his accent showing more than before. "You look real uncomfortable."

"If it's not painfully obvious, yes, I am uncomfortable," I say angrily. "But I've no idea how you can help me, seeing as you've successfully managed to sever multiple things inside of my leg!" I wildly gesture at my leg for emphasis. He looks scared of me for a moment, so I soften up. "Why don't we just keep walking, Huck?"

He smiles a tiny bit. "Okay."

He helps me up, and we trek through the forest, up and down hills until the ground starts to get that white powdery look to it, and I know we're really close to the lake now. I remember seeing the snow around the frozen lake, and this makes me a bit more hopeful. I'm just depending on the fact that Wade and Katri are still near the lake somewhat, and that they're even together, actually.

"So," I start as we slowly make our way up the hill in front of us, "do you have any siblings?" I'm trying to be nice to this poor kid, since he sounds like he's going insane and I don't want to be the cause of that. He keeps mumbling stuff to himself and then looks up after a moment, his puppy-dog eyes confused and almost scared.

"What? Did you say something?" he asks, squeezing my shoulder slightly. The gesture reminds me vaguely of Wade.

"Okay, kid, don't try to pull that on me. You're like three years younger, and I have a boyfriend," I say with a smile, trying to lighten the mood up. He blushes wildly and moves his hand from my shoulder, though he's still helping me stumble through the forest. "Anyway, I was just asking if you have any family back in Twelve. You know, siblings?"

"Oh, yeah, I do. A little sister named Daisy and an older brother named Ethan. My ma and pa are still around, carin' for us and all. But Ma was sick when I left. I hope she's doing okay. I hope they all are. I hope they forgive me for the awfulness I've done…" He trails off, looking away from my face.

"Hey, bud, it's okay," I say awkwardly, trying to be caring, but really it just comes off weird. Oh well.

We fall into another silence, broken occasionally by my grunting in pain or his quiet whispers to himself. It's not bad, but I just wish he was a little less detached and cold. The poor guy has seen way too much for his young age. Hell, everyone in this arena has probably seen more than they ever should in their lifetime. It's disgusting.

We've been going steadily for about an hour or two when we hear voices and a crackling and popping sound. It's a fire, and there are people. I'm freezing cold. My breath puffs out in front of me and the fire is worth so much at this point. I just hope that it's Wade feeding it, and not Killani or one of her little cohorts.

Huck stops under me, frozen in fear. I urge him on, but he won't budge. "Come on," I whisper. "Huck, it's getting really cold." I look up from him to see what he's staring at, and my stomach drops.

His eyes are cold and narrowed, and there's a knife in his gloved hand. He looks nothing like the boy I knew before. The person before me is a killer, someone built for running and executing. I feel tears prick behind my eyes, and my lip trembles a little.

"Wade?" I ask, my voice cracking a little. I break from Huck's weakened grip and limp forward.

The ice in his eyes melts the second I speak, and he breaks out into a gigantic smile. I'm relieved for the moment, but the pose with the knife and the coldness in his face still stays burnt in my mind.

He runs to me right away and embraces me, breathing unevenly and I can feel him smile into my hair. I bury my face in his chest and breathe him in and relish the feeling of being in his arms. It feels good, so damn good, that I want to stay here, with him, forever.

But that can't happen.

"Briar, I can't believe it's you," he says quietly, hugging me even tighter. "I just can't even believe…"

"Then don't," I whisper to him. "Just kiss me." I move my face from his warm shoulder and am just in time for the kiss. He brings his hands up to my ratty, tangled hair, and stops for a moment.

"Your hair," he says. "What happened to it?"

He said it. He said the exact same thing in the dream. I want to laugh and cry out and do so many things and the feelings from that hideous dream rush back to me. I just hug him closer to me and pretend he didn't say anything.

"I like it," he says, kissing the top of my head. He looks over my shoulder to Huck and calls out to him.

Huck looks up from the spot on the ground he was concentrating on, fear in his big eyes. "Huh?"

"What's your name?" Wade asks. "District?"

"Wade, he's thirteen, give him a break," I whisper-yell. His solid pose relaxes a little. He shoots Huck a friendly smile, and motions for him to join us. Huck looks hesitant, but I can tell that the cold has gotten the better of him , so he obliges and shyly walks forward.

"Welcome to camp."

**A/N: Wow, guys, it's been a month since I updated. I'm so sorry. Feel free to throw rotten virtual tomatoes at me in your reviews. I deserve it. Again, I'm so, so sorry!**

**I love you all, I really do, but I've just been SUPER busy. We had testing all last week and the week before, so I was studying and going to bed early and all that good stuff, so I was unable to really get on this old stuff. BUT I WILL BE BACK, FOR GOOD! I promise that I'll update this weekend. Cross your fingers for Friday, but most likely it will come on Sunday, since Friday is the hideous Semi-Formal. Ugh.**

**I have no other excuses. I am ashamed. *le sigh***

**This chapter was short, but I was going for short and sweet, since the whole Wade thing, right? And leave your thoughts in a review. Do you think Katri is here, with Wade now? Or is she somewhere else? Also, who should go? What are your thoughts on Huck? When will Sagitarria and Skene come back into play? Leave all your thoughts/predictions/ideas in the reviews!**

**I LOVE YOU! Remember, they cannot take it away. (Delirium reference! Also: DID YOU GUYS HEAR THEY'RE TURNING IT INTO A T.V. SHOW? I CAN'T EVEN…AH.)**

**That is all.**


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